Moody’s profit rises, raises guidance
Moody’s profit rises, raises guidance
New York: Moody’s Corp reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Thursday, as a pickup in capital markets activity prompted more bond issuers to seek its ratings.
The company raised its full-year forecast for earnings per share to $1.96 from $1.90, as it now expects its main ratings business to increase its revenues from a year earlier in the low-double-digit percent range.
Moody’s said profit rose to $136 million, or 58 cents a share, from $100.6 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier. That beat analysts’ average expectations of a profit of 45 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company said revenue climbed 14 percent to $513.3 million.
RATINGS
Moody’s Investors Service, the company’s core rating agency business, rated more high-yield bonds, more financial institutions’ debt and more debt from infrastructure and project finance in the third quarter.
High-yield debt issuance also fueled revenues at rival Standard & Poor’s, owned by McGraw-Hill Cos Inc, which reported a better-than-expected profit on Tuesday.
The two main ratings agencies have struggled in the last couple of years as the credit crunch has lowered debt issuance volumes.
They were also broadly criticized for not spotting problems that contributed to the global financial crisis and now face regulatory changes that threaten to cut into their businesses.
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