The acquisition of its major competitor, CWT, plus a major partnership with another major business travel player, SAP Concur, for the launch and ongoing roll-out of the joint Complete solution: the year 2025 could not have been more significant for American Express Global Business Travel (GBT). A profitable year too, since the business travel agency, which has strengthened its position as world leader, returned to the black with a net profit of 111 million dollars last year, compared with a loss of 134 million in 2024.
In total, Amex GBT generated revenues of over 2.7 billion, up 12% over the year as a whole. Growth even reached 34% in the last quarter alone, illustrating dynamic demand for business travel despite the negative impact of the US shutdown. Over the year as a whole, TMC's sales were driven by growth of 12 % in travel revenues, including an increase of 17% in the total value of transactions.
Finalised last September, the integration of CWT, which took many months to complete pending approval from the US and UK competition authorities, generated costs, with operating expenses up by T€121 and free cash flow down by T€371 over the year. This was partially offset by the benefits of cost transformation, estimated at USD 103 million, and USD 5 million from synergies with CWT. With these new foundations in place, Amex GBT intends to build on the cost optimisation achieved through the integration of CWT, " expecting to achieve $55 million in synergies over the 2026 financial year "according to Amex GBT CFO Karen Williams.
" In 2025, we delivered solid results and expect even stronger momentum in 2026. We continue to win market share and maintain a remarkable level of customer loyalty. "Paul Abbott, Chief Executive of TMC, added at the time of the results announcement. Amex GBT is therefore forecasting sales growth of between 19% and 21% for 2026, which is expected to exceed 3 billion dollars.
In this context, Amex GBT is counting above all on artificial intelligence to accelerate its growth. First and foremost, it aims to cut costs by automating services and transactions managed by AI, thereby reducing the need for human intervention. But Amex GBT also intends to tackle the agentic transformation of B2B travel. " We expect AI agents to play a major role in business travel "said Evan Konwiser, TMC's Director of Product and Strategy, adding that unlike leisure travel, " business travel requires trusted data and transactional authority from both travellers and companies "including data ranging from traveller preferences to corporate policies and approval rights ".
This is always a good thing for AI-powered travel agencies. The partnership with SAP Concur is part of this trend. " In the Complete by SAP Concur and Amex GBT solution, we combine SAP's AI solution, Joule, with our travel capabilities to streamline travel and expense management through natural language conversations. "said Evan Konwiser.
From the business traveller's perspective, Amex GBT also expects AI to revolutionise their experience. " We know that travellers want to book through the channels they already use every day, and we know that both businesses and their travellers expect integration into existing workflows, with immediate personalised responses and proactive actions to meet their needs. "said Evan Konwiser.
Illustrating this strategy, Amex GBT is preparing to launch Egencia AI in April, a tool enabling travellers to search, book and modify trips using natural language interactions. Drawing on the comprehensive and competitive inventory of the Amex GBT marketplace, this new solution will also be based on traveller preferences and compliance with company policy. Similar solutions are also planned for the Complete solution and Neo.
