American Express reported a 12% rise in income from continuing operations for 2007 from $3.6bn in 2006 to $4bn.
The company said its net income for the year rose by 8% from $3.7bn in 2006 to $4bn.
But it reported a drop in business for the last quarter of 2007 when income from continuing operations dropped by 6% from $895bn in the same quarter of 2006 to $839m. Net income for the three month period fell by 10% from $922m in 2006 to $831m.
Kenneth Chenault, chairman and chief executive of American Express, said: "Results for the year met or exceeded all of our long-term financial targets, even though we saw clear signs of a weakening economy and business environment in December.
"Despite the December weakness that we discussed a few weeks ago, fourth-quarter business volumes and credit indicators continued to be in the top tier of the industry.
"While our outlook for 2008 remains cautious, and we continue to expect slower earnings growth in the year ahead, we are not changing our fundamental approach to managing the business.
"We expect to take advantage of growth opportunities in those parts of the market with strong underlying economics.
"We are not immune from further deterioration in the economic and credit environment, but we believe our focus on the premium sector should help us to weather the current conditions better than many competitors."
‘Global warming impacting on travel'
Business travel is changing in response to fears of global warming, a new survey claims.
The third annual survey by IT company KDS and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) said there was now a "real desire to reduce the frequency of travel and select 'greener' options."
The survey found that 45% of respondents thought guilt about global warming affected their decisions on travel.
The survey quizzed 250 travellers and travel managers of whom 40% were from companies employing more than 10,000 people in the US, the UK and continental Europe.
The full results of the survey will be released at the Business Travel Show in London next week.
* see the latest jobs on BTE's recruitment site www.businesstraveljobs.com