American Express 2014 Annual Report Download - page 3

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 3 of the 2014 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 130

  • 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
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130

AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY | ANNUAL REPORT 2014 2
If I were to focus this Annual Report letter solely on 2014, here is what I
would say. For a company generally known to produce consistently strong
results, American Express delivered again last year. We posted record
earnings while investing heavily in opportunities to fuel our growth over the
long run. But the story doesn’t begin or end there.
2014 was just one of many strong years of late. Consider the 14 percent
annual earnings per share growth that we’ve averaged since 2010. During
this time, we also delivered high returns on capital, with an average
ROE of 27 percent. This performance has translated into a total five-year
shareholder return of 145 percent, which is well above market returns on
the whole. We’ve accomplished this through a post-recession economy
and various other business challenges.
As we entered 2015, however, the near-term picture changed due to a
number of factors that we face, including economic headwinds, regulatory
developments and changes in co-brand partnerships.
In this letter, I want to give you a sense of how we will deal with these
challenges. I also want to review the important progress that we made
during 2014 and how we are well-positioned to exploit the many growth
opportunities in front of us.
Let’s start with a small transaction that had big significance. It was
Christmas Day at a popular Miami restaurant. After enjoying a meal with
her family, a longtime Card Member settled the $157 check with her Blue
Cash Card. She didn’t know that her routine charge had just made a piece
of American Express history. With that purchase, we passed the $1 trillion
mark in annual charge volume for the first time.
This milestone reflects years of growth — from the days when the Card
was made of paper and held by a select few, to today, when our global
network connects millions of consumers, businesses and merchants, and
2014: Growth and Transformation
DEAR
SHAREHOLDERS