American Express Co.’s profit fell 15% to...

American Express Co.’s profit fell 15% to $266 million in its first quarter, compared to a restated $314 million in the year-ago period, when the giant financial services company recorded a big one-time tax-related gain. The company, however, said its Travel Related Services division, which runs its credit card business, had record earnings. Shearson Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. also posted strong income during the period, the first to include E. F. Hutton results, it said. Last year’s net income included $49 million of deferred income tax benefits recorded to comply with new accounting rules. Excluding those benefits, the first-quarter earnings that year would have totaled $265 million, about the same as this year.