Profits Fall at Most Units of Amex in 4Q

One week after American Express Co. (AXP) announced that its fourth-quarter earnings fell sharply from a year earlier, the company filled in more details Thursday.

The New York-based credit card issuer stated that net income was down from a year ago in most of its segments, including its U.S. card services, international card services and global commercial services units. The sole bright spot was the global network and merchant services unit, where fourth-quarter net income was $354 million, up 9% from a year earlier.

Amex had previously released its overall earnings and revenue figures for the fourth quarter, along with an announcement of 5,400 layoffs and other charges that totaled hundreds of millions of dollars.

Net income for the quarter was $637 million, or $0.56 per share, which was down from $1.2 billion and $1.01 per share in the prior-year period, Amex stated in a Jan. 10 news release. Total revenues net of interest expense were $8.1 billion, up 5% from a year ago, according to the company.

"With higher fourth-quarter revenues and cardmember spending, we ended 2012 in strong shape," Amex Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault said in a news release Thursday. "Against the backdrop of an uneven economy, we capitalized on opportunities and continued to stay ahead of the trends that are reshaping our industry."

Thursday's results were announced after the stock market closed.