American Express Reaffirms FY Guidance

(RTTNews) - American Express Co (AXP) on Friday reaffirmed its financial outlook for fiscal years 2015, 2016 and 2017.

In remarks prepared for a presentation at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Campbell said that for 2015, American Express continues to expect earnings per share to be flat to modestly down.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $5.49 per share for 2015. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company also said it believes it outlook to return to positive earnings per share growth in 2016 and within its target range of 12-15% in 2017 remains appropriate.

Echoing comments made earlier this year at the company's Investor Day, Campbell reiterated, "We will likely have more unevenness in our performance from quarter to quarter than has been typical of our business."

Campbell also said the company expects third-quarter revenue growth to be slower than the second quarter revenue growth rate, adjusting for FX and business travel.

"We believe that our core underlying earnings performance this quarter will be generally consistent with the financial outlook framework that we first shared with you at our Investor Day in March. Although after adjusting for FX, we do expect the billings growth rate this quarter to be in line with or modestly below what we saw in the second quarter," Campbell said.