American Express posts profit beat amid resilient spending by younger customers

Investing.com -- American Express (NYSE: AXP) has posted higher-than-anticipated income in the second quarter as the credit card group's younger affluent customers kept spending despite elevated interest rates and relatively stubborn inflation.

AmEx reported profit of $2.89 per share during the three months ended on June 30, topping analysts' expectations of $2.81, according to Refinitiv data cited by Reuters.

Spurring on this growth were total network volumes, which grew by 8% over the period to $426.6 billion.

"We saw continued strong demand for our premium products, with over 70 percent of the new accounts we acquired in the quarter on our fee-based products," said chairman and chief executive Stephen Squeri in a statement.

"Millennial and Gen Z consumers remained our fastest-growing customer cohort, representing over 60 percent of new consumer accounts acquired globally in the quarter, and spending by this cohort increased 21 percent over the prior year in the United States."

Total revenues net of interest expense increased by 12% to $15.05B, thanks to higher average loan volumes.

But discount revenue -- a figure derived from transactions made with partner merchants that makes up a large portion of the firm's top-line returns -- of $8.48B missed Bloomberg consensus expectations. Shares in AmEx slipped in premarket trading on Friday.

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