S&P cuts American Express ratings to "A"

Fri. December 19, 2008; Posted: 03:38 PM

NEW YORK, Dec 20, 2008 (Reuters via COMTEX) -- AXP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Standard & Poor's cut its rating on American Express Co by one notch on Friday due to increasing financial pressure on consumer lenders, the rating company said.

S&P cut its ratings for American Express by one step to "A," or five steps above junk, from "A-plus." The outlook is negative, suggesting more cuts may come.

"The actions reflect our concerns about the weakening operating environment for consumer lenders, deterioration in Amex's credit card loan portfolio, and Amex's wholesale funding concentration," S&P said in a statement.

S&P also said the downgrade reflects its reassessment of higher industry risk for financial institutions and greater market volatility.

"The current recessionary operating environment, characterized by rising unemployment, consumer spending contraction, and overall economic weakness, has pressured Amex's 2008 operations" and profits, S&P said.

(Reporting by Walden Siew; Editing by Dan Grebler) Keywords: AMEX RATINGS/SANDP

(walden.siew@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6333; Reuters Messaging: walden.siew.reuters.com@reuters.net)

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

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For full details on American Express Co (AXP) click here. American Express Co (AXP) has Short Term PowerRatings of 5. Details on American Express Co (AXP) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

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