American Express 2007 Annual Report Download - page 15
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American Express turned in record earnings in 2007,
fueled by growth in cardmember spending that ranked
in the top tier of the industry. This strong performance
was tempered by events at the end of the year, however, as
the U.S. housing downturn and credit crunch began to
spill over to other parts of the economy. In December, we
began to feel the effects of the weakening U.S. economy
as cardmember spending slowed and past-due loans and
write-off rates rose. These trends led us to increase lending
reserves in the fourth quarter and to adopt a more cautious
outlook for 2008.
While the changing market conditions clearly affected
us, they do not diminish the progress we achieved during
the year or the leadership position we have established
within the payments industry. We believe we are better
equipped to weather a downturn than we were in years
past. And, with many of our competitors focused on issues
in their businesses, we have an opportunity to expand our
market leadership.
toOUR SHAREHOLDERS
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