This progress was clearly demonstrated in our 2002 earnings performance: economic conditions of 1999 and 2000. In fact, it fell short of our long-term target of 8 percent growth. Nevertheless, the steps we have taken to improve our expense margins enabled us to deliver strong bottom- line results in a tougher environment, while at the same time freeing up resources to fund investments in business-building activities. In making these comparisons, it is important to note that our year-ago net income was affected by a number of unusual items — a $1.01 billion ($669 million  after-tax) charge reflecting write-downs and losses associated with high-yield securities at American Express Financial Advisors, a company-wide $631 million ($411 million after-tax) restructuring charge primarily to cover the cost of workforce reductions, and one-time costs of $98 million ($65 million after- tax) resulting from the September 11th attacks. These items obviously depressed our year-ago results and help explain why earnings more than doubled in 2002. Nevertheless, even excluding the impact of these items, our underlying earnings growth for 2002 was quite strong. We significantly increased spending on new products, capabilities and marketing activities – particularly in our card businesses during the second half of the year. By the end of 2002, we were seeing early signs that these investments were producing the expected results. For example, we generated strong growth in card- member spending, had higher loan balances and added more than 900,000 new cards in force during the fourth quarter of 2002. Our decision to invest a large portion of our reengineering savings in business-build- ing efforts, rather than letting them flow directly to 2002 earnings, helped us continue to build competitive advantages, expand our customer relationships and build momentum as we ended the year. As we manage our business, we are focused on meeting our financial targets the right way. Our actions are based on the company’s long-term interests rather than on short-term, expedient solutions. The importance  of managing with integrity and a long-term view was made strikingly clear by the ethical failures at a number of companies in 2002. The impact of these failures on shareholders and employees was devastat- ing. The actions that caused them are inexcusable. The steps taken by lawmakers, regulators and companies themselves to strengthen corporate governance and Our results for the year reflect several factors, including: a solid expansion of our global card businesses, lower expenses due to the success of our ongoing reengineer- ing programs, strong credit quality and the benefits of lower funding costs.  Revenue growth, however, did not match the double- digit rates we delivered during the more robust  Building a Strong Platform for Growth I 4 AXP I Net income was $2.67 billion, up from $1.31 billion in 2001. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose to $2.01, up from $0.98 a year ago.  Return on equity was 20.6 percent, compared with 10.9 percent in 2001.  Revenues totaled $23.8 billion, up 5 percent from $22.6 billion in 2001. 