By Emily Dattilo

American Express turned in solid quarterly results Friday, increased its dividend, and highlighted record levels of card member spending.

For its fourth quarter, the credit-card company posted diluted earnings of $3.04 a share, narrowly beating Wall Street's call for $3.03, according to FactSet.

Total revenue net of interest expense was $17.18 billon, slightly above the consensus estimate of $17.16 billion. Billed business -- a metric that represents Amex cardholder spending -- increased 8% from a year ago.

"2024 was another strong year for American Express," CEO Stephen Squeri said in a press release. "We delivered record revenues of $65.9 billion, up 10& on an FX-adjusted basis, record net income of $10.1 billion, and earnings per share of $14.01, up 25% year-over-year."

"We also saw record levels of annual card member spending, record net card fee revenues, and a record 13 million new card acquisitions, and we continued to add millions of merchant locations to our network globally, " he added.

For 2025, the company said it expects revenue growth of between 8% and 10% and earnings per share between $15 and $15.50. Analysts forecast earnings of $15.24.

American Express also said it would increase its quarterly dividend by 17% to 82 cents a share.

Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@dowjones.com

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January 24, 2025 07:01 ET (12:01 GMT)

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