[ad_1]
American express (Amex) registered a sharp drop of 76% in its profits in the first quarter over the same period last year, as its reserves destined to make up for credit card defaults due to the economic crisis linked to the coronavirus.
The crisis also eroded their clients’ spending on their cards.
After two good months at the beginning of the year, “We are in a different world”American Express President Stephen Squeri said in a statement.
“The deterioration of the economy under the pressure of the impact of Covid-19, which began in the first quarter and accelerated in April, strongly affected our business volumes,” he explained.
Purchases with Amex cards in retail stores, restaurants and online trading platforms, fell considerably.
Thus, the group’s net earnings were 367 million dollars between January and March, compared to 1,550 million in the same period of 2019.
Amex had to increase provisions to cover defaults, from $ 1.7 billion to $ 2.6 billion.
Billing, meanwhile, reached 10.3 billion dollars in the first quarter, down 1% on the same quarter last year, somewhat below what analysts expected.
[ad_2]
