A Moody's sign on the 7 World Trade Center tower is photographed in New York August 2, 2011.Mike Segar/Reuters
Moody's Corp., the owner of the second– largest credit rater, reported fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analysts' estimates even as global bond issuance dropped.
Net income fell 8 per cent to $217.9-million (U.S.) in the three months ended Dec. 31 from $236.3-million a year earlier, the New York-based company said in a statement Friday. Profit excluding certain items was $1.09 a share, above the $1.05 average estimate of 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Revenue dropped 1.3 per cent to $865.9-million from $877.5-million a year ago, Moody's said. The company projected its full-year earnings guidance of $4.75 to $4.85 a share for 2016.
Revenue at Moody's Investors Service, the credit-ratings unit that accounts for about about two-thirds of sales, was down 4 per cent at $544.6-million.
Global corporate-bond issuance dropped 20 per cent in the three months ended December from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As Moody's is the largest rater by market share after McGraw Hill's Standard & Poor's unit, expectations on issuance volume will be in focus on Moody's earnings call today, according to Joshua Yatskowitz, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Moody's shares fell 4.8 per cent to $82.91 as of 11:24 a.m. New York time, and are down 17 per cent this year.