Moody's Profit Falls, Hurt by Foreign Exchange

Moody's Corp. on Friday reported profit dropped 7.9% as foreign-exchange headwinds dented revenue growth, though the top and bottom lines beat Wall Street expectations.

Chief Executive Raymond McDaniel said the company expected continued market volatility, and it issued guidance for the year below expectations.

For 2016, Moody's anticipates revenue growth in the mid-single-digit percent range and earnings of $4.75 to $4.85 a share. Analysts had forecast earnings of $5.01 a share on 6% revenue growth.

In the most recent quarter, revenue at the Moody's Investors Service unit, the biggest revenue driver, fell 4% to $544.6 million. The company said it was flat on a constant currency basis.

In the analytics division, which provides financial data and other types of market intelligence to investors and banks, revenue grew by 3% to $321.3 million.

In all, the company reported a profit of $217.9 million, or $1.09 a share, down from $236.3 million, or $1.12 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 1.3% to $865.9 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of $1.05 a share on revenue of $856 million.

U.S. revenue edged up 1% to $481.2 million, while foreign revenue fell 4% to $384.7 million. Revenue generated outside the U.S. fell to 44% of total revenue, compared with 45% in the quarter last year.

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.

Shares, which have fallen 14% over the past three months, were inactive premarket.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2016 08:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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