Total spending by commercial customers in the fourth quarter increased 4 percent year over year, with travel and entertainment spending up 5 percent, Amex reported in its fourth-quarter earnings call. For the other three quarters of the year, commercial customer spending was up either 1 percent or 2 percent year over year.
"Q4 spend results were strong across our business, and we feel good about the spend acceleration we saw," Amex CFO Christophe Le Caillec said in an earnings call. He added that the first three weeks of January have looked to be "more in line with Q4 trends."
Among U.S. large and global corporations, total spending—inclusive of T&E and spending on goods and services—increased 7 percent year over year in the fourth quarter. Small and midsized business total spending on Amex increased 3 percent year over year, also ending a streak of several quarters of 1 percent or 2 percent growth for the segment.
American Express chairman and CEO Stephen Squeri said there was an "improvement in small business sentiment in the fourth quarter" as Amex's SME base continued to grow.
International card services spending in the fourth quarter continued to lead Amex's growth, with international large customer and SME spending, inclusive of T&E and goods and services, up 15 percent year over year. Total international T&E spending, which includes consumer spending as well as business spending, increased 14 percent.
Amex reported fourth-quarter total revenue up 9 percent year over year to $17.2 billion, and the company's net income for the quarter was $2.2 billion, up 12 percent. For the full year of 2024, Amex's net income was $10.1 billion, up 21 percent year over year.
