NEW YORK - American Express Co. reported its eighth straight quarter of falling profits as consumers spent and borrowed less.

However, while the New York-based credit card company reported a 22 percent drop in earnings, it said there are signs that loan losses could be stabilizing and that business spending is picking up.

For the period ended Sept. 30, American Express said earnings after accounting for preferred stock dividends and other items totaled $632 million, or 53 cents per share. That is down from $810 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Results included a one-time benefit of $180 million due to an accounting adjustment.

Excluding the gain, the company earned 43 cents per share. Analysts, who typically exclude unusual items from their estimates, had forecast a profit of 38 cents per share.

Investors seemed pleased with the results, sending shares up 30 cents to $36.74 in after-hours trading following the report. Shares gained $1.34, or 3.8 percent, to close regular trading at $36.44.

In its U.S. card business, the percentage of loans AmEx considers won't be repaid dropped to 8.9 percent from 10 percent in the prior quarter. However, that is still well above the 5.9 percent rate a year earlier.

Nearly all lenders have seen more customers fall behind on their monthly payments as the economy falters and unemployment rises. But AmEx, which has traditionally catered to a more affluent clientele, has been weathering the economic downturn better than many of its peers.

As cardholder spending and transaction volume declined, total revenue fell 17 percent to $4.84 billion, short of the average analyst estimate of $5.9 billion.

American Express continued to aggressively cut expenses during the quarter, trimming them 17 percent to $3.92 billion.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.