AmEx's third-quarter profit beats estimates on buoyant spending

(Reuters) - Credit card giant American Express on Friday reported third-quarter profit that beat expectations, helped by resilient spending from its wealthy customers who shrugged off concerns about an economic downturn.

AmEx, which caters to a premium customer base, has largely been able to mitigate the hit from inflation and the Federal Reserve's rate hikes, which have made borrowing costly and reined in discretionary spending.

"Travel and Entertainment (T&E) spending remained robust... Restaurant spending was again one of our fastest-growing T&E categories," CEO Stephen Squeri said in a statement.

Shares of the company climbed 1.7% in premarket trading.

The company reported a profit of $2.45 billion, or $3.30 per share, up from $1.88 billion or $2.47 per share a year earlier. On average, analysts had expected a profit of $2.94 per share, according to LSEG IBES data.

In a sign of caution, however, AmEx boosted its provisions for credit losses to $1.23 billion, up 58% from last year, to account for the increased likelihood of consumers defaulting on their debt.

Revenue, net of interest expense, surged 13%, to $15.38 billion.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)