American Express Chief Financial Officer Jeff Campbell downplayed the omicron variant’s effect on travel spending Tuesday (Jan. 25) after the company saw its fourth-quarter profit exceed expectations amid record spending levels.
In an interview with Reuters, the AmEx CFO said he expected the trend to continue this year as the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus had little impact on travel spending.
“When you think about the Delta variant in 2021, and now as you see Omicron in early 2022, each of those impacts has been a little milder than the one before, and we believe shorter in duration,” Campbell said.
AmEx expects its net revenue will increase between 18% and 20% this year, with earnings per share of $9.25 to $9.65, according to the news outlet.
In the final quarter of 2021, spending on travel and entertainment on American Express cards more than doubled as younger consumers dined out more and traveled abroad.
Read more: Airlines’ Earnings Show Continued Gains in Cargo Business, Corporate Travel Rebound
This is in keeping with figures released by the airline industry earlier this month that show people are traveling more.
American Airlines, for example, saw its losses shrink as the demand for holiday travel returned, seeing passenger-related revenues of $8.3 billion compared to $3.2 billion for the previous year. The air carrier’s operating loss for the most recent quarter was at $790 million, compared to $2.5 billion in 2020.
And Delta Air Lines showed its best top-line revenue showing since 2019, with total operating revenue of $9.5 billion, the company announced Jan. 13.
AmEx says the rise in spending caused total revenue — excluding interest expense — to increase 30%. The company says its net income came in at $1.7 billion, or $2.18 per share, while its profit growth was curbed by a 29% increase in expenses stemming from rising compensation and greater usage of travel-related benefit.
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