The Memphis-based company now has three distinct divisions: large ground freight, ground parcels and air express--with newly integrated information systems, sales and billing.

FORBES: Start the Ground War

"In the quarter, spend growth continued to be healthy, and was relatively consistent with the past several quarters, despite the negative impact of having an extra billing day in the first quarter of 2012 because of leap year, " Dan Henry, American Express' chief financial officer, said during a conference call with analysts.

WSJ: American Express' 1Q profit up as spending rises