NEW YORK - American Express has said that it was planning to cut more than 4,000 jobs this year even as the company has reported an 11 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit.

Buoyed by an increase in consumer spending with the American Express credit cards, the company said Wednesday that it had earned $1.45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014. That compares well with a profit of $1.31 billion in the same period a year ago.

It said that consolidated revenues net of interest expense rose to $9.1 billion from $8.5 billion a year ago, which is up seven percent as compared to the same period in 2013.

"The revenue increase primarily reflected the previously reported gain of $719 million ($453 million after-tax) on the sale of the company's investment in Concur Technologies," Amex said in a financial statement.

"The increase also reflected a rise in card member spending and higher net interest income. Last year's fourth quarter included revenue from the company's business travel operations, which were deconsolidated as a result of the joint venture transaction that closed June 30, 2014."

For the full year, the company reported that its net income was $5.9 billion, up 10 percent from $5.4 billion a year ago.

Diluted earnings per share rose 14 percent to $5.56 from $4.88 a year ago, it said.

But the New York based firm was still short of its revenue targets and a small increase in the company's expenses in the fourth quarter signaled that a crucial advantage for the company in recent years may be fading away.

On Wednesday, its shares fell about two percent in after-hours trading as the company disclosed a three percent increase in its expenses.

To make up for the target deficiency, the company to cut about six percent of its total work force that translates into 4,000 jobs.

The cuts are part of a companywide efficiency drive and the company is expected to take a $313 million pretax charge in the fourth quarter, partly as a result of the cuts.

The chief financial officer, Jeffrey C. Campbell, said some of the job cuts would be offset by hiring in other divisions.

The company last made mass job cuts in 2013, when it offloaded 5,400 employees.