American Express quarterly profit rises 6% on higher consumer spending

(Reuters) - Credit card issuer American Express Co <AXP.N> reported a 6% rise in third-quarter profit on Friday, as more people used cards to shop, pay bills and make big ticket purchases.

Net income rose to $1.76 billion (1.36 billion pounds), or $2.08 per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, from $1.65 billion, or $1.88 per share, a year earlier, the company said.

Total revenue, excluding interest expense, rose 8% to $11 billion.

Analysts had expected a profit of $2.03 per share, on revenue of $10.94 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv, but it was not immediately clear if the numbers were comparable.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)