American Express 2011 Annual Report Download - page 4

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 4 of the 2011 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 113

  • 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
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113

TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS:
Never let anyone tell you what you
can’t accomplish. My father shared this
advice with me when I was growing up.
And, throughout the past year, my colleagues
at American Express often reminded
me of those words. Our people produced
strong growth in a weak environment,
cutting-edge innovation from a 160-year-old
company, and healthy shareholder
returns in a volatile market. It was a year
of setting new standards.
We earned a record $4.9billion in net income, up 22percent from the prior year.
Sharply higher spending by our cardmembers and excellent credit quality drove our
performance. Revenues net of interest expense rose 9percent to $30billion.
Our cardmembers swiped, clicked and tapped their way to a record $822billion in
purchases, an increase of 15percent from a year ago. We enjoyed broad-based growth
in spending among consumers, small businesses and corporations in every region
of the world
—
all while facing a tepid economy, stubborn unemployment and low
consumerconfidence.
AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
2