American Express Profit Hits Record $359 Million

American Express said its net income for the second quarter ended June 30 soared 156% from the same period of 1985, although much of the gain came from proceeds of the sale of the company’s Fireman’s Fund stock.

The diversified financial services and travel company said it had record consolidated net income of $359 million in the quarter ended June 30. That compared to a profit of $140 million in the like quarter of 1985.

This year’s second-quarter earnings included an $88-million gain on the sale of 9 million Fireman’s Fund shares during the quarter. Without the one-time gain, the earnings increase over last year would have been 93%.

Second-quarter revenue rose 25% to $3.6 billion from $2.9 billion last year.

The travel related services unit posted an 18% profit increase. Charge card use increased by 14% and cards in force grew by 7.8% to 22.9 million, the company said.

Earnings rose by 9.7% for Shearson Lehman Bros., the company’s investment subsidiary. Bolstering earnings were revenue gains of 51% in investment banking, 47% in commissions and 46% in investment advisory revenue.