Moody's Corp. on Friday reported better-than-expected profit and
revenue in its second quarter, as an 18% surge in U.S. revenue
helped to offset weakness in Europe.
Moody's has seen strong demand for its bond grades, especially
among U.S. corporate borrowers, and has said it expects to remain
busy as an active mergers-and-acquisitions market fuels demand for
debt deals.
In the latest quarter, Moody's Investors Service unit, the
biggest revenue driver, saw a 2.2% uptick in revenue to $639.2
million. The unit was helped by deal activity.
In the analytics division, which provides financial data and
other types of market intelligence to investors and banks, revenue
grew by 12% to $278.9 million. The division was helped by last
year's acquisition of Lewtan Technologies.
In all, the company reported a profit of $261.7 million, or
$1.28 a share, down from $319.2 million, or $1.48 a share, a year
earlier.
Revenue grew 5.1% to $918.1 million, or 10% excluding negative
currency effects.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of $1.22
a share and revenue of $897.4 million.
U.S. revenue grew 18% to $545.9 million, while foreign revenue
fell 10% to $372.2 million.
Investors rely on the bond grades issued by Moody's, Standard
& Poor's Ratings Services and Fitch Ratings. Collectively, they
issue about 95% of ratings globally—a total virtually unchanged
from before the financial crisis.
The company backed its full-year outlook for $4.55 a share to
$4.65 a share in earnings.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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