NEW YORK—American Express’ profits fell 14 percent in the second quarter, the company said Friday, as higher expenses more than offset record spending on its network by its cardmembers.
AmEx had profit of $1.96 billion, or $2.57 a share, down from $2.28 billion, or $2.80 a share, in the same period a year earlier. That still topped the $2.42 that Wall Street was looking for, according to FactSet.
The New York company saw a massive surge of spending on its proprietary cards in the quarter, up 30 percent from a year ago, a surge that the company attributed to higher travel and entertainment spending. Spending on AmEx’s corporate cards also increased which is notable because companies are still hunkered down in the pandemic and reluctant to spend money on travel….