American Express will slash 4,000 jobs worldwide
NEW YORK - American Express (AMEX) is planning to cut more than 4,000 jobs across the company this year, a company spokeswoman told The Associated Press.
The job cuts would represent about 6 percent of American Express' total headcount, based on the company's latest annual report. An American Express spokeswoman said Wednesday the cuts will span U.S. and international operations.
The company will take a $313 million pretax charge in the fourth quarter, partly as a result of the cuts. In a conference call with investors, American Express Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Campbell said some of the job cuts will be offset by hiring in other parts of the company.
The information about the workforce reductions came as American Express reported an 11 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as consumers spent more with the company's namesake credit cards.
American Express said Wednesday it earned $1.45 billion, or $1.39 per share. That compares with a profit of $1.31 billion, or $1.21 a share, in the same period a year ago.
It said it saw a 6 percent rise in card spending compared to a year ago. Profits were also helped by a one-time $453 million after-tax gain from the sale of its stake in Concur Technologies, a travel and business expense site.
Revenue net of interest expense was $9.11 billion, compared with $8.55 billion a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected American Express to earn $1.38 a share on $8.52 billion in revenue.
For the full year, American Express earned $5.89 billion, or $5.56 per share, up from $5.36 billion, or $4.88 per share, a year ago.
American Express shares fell 2.2 percent to $85.75 in after-market trading.