American Express 1998 Annual Report Download - page 5

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 5 of the 1998 American Express annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 63

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63

3
growth in our corporate and small business card
activities, increased spending per card and on-
going improvement in our merchant coverage.
Although market share figures for industry vol-
ume are not yet available for the second half of
the year, we are encouraged by our progress. And,
in spite of huge mergers and portfolio acquisi-
tions by many banks, we maintained our position
as the number one card issuer in the world based
on volume.
•Prudent deployment of capital through strategic acquisi-
tions that helped strengthen our competitive position in a
number of businesses. Acquisitions announced dur-
ing the year include: Securities America, a full
service broker/dealer that will provide our finan-
cial advisors with increased choice in how they
Nineteen ninety-eight was a tough year. With eco-
nomic turmoil and market volatility around the
world, it seemed at times as if we were facing one
problem after another. We certainly did not han-
dle every issue perfectly. But, overall, we did fine.
As a result, we are pleased to report another year
of strong financial performance and continued
progress on our strategies. The underlying strength
of our businesses and talented leadership through-
out the organization enabled us to achieve good
results, both on an absolute basis and relative to
many of our competitors.
Highlights of the past year include:
•Continued United States market share gains in charge and
credit card volume and in lending balances.This reflects
a number of initiatives, including continued
TO OUR FELLOW SHAREHOLDERS
Harvey Golub (left), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
and Kenneth I. Chenault, President and Chief Operating Officer.