MCO Moodys Corp

By Dean Seal

Moody's Corp. lowered its full-year adjusted earnings and revenue guidance, saying it expects market volatility that already took a toll on its first-quarter profit to continue.

The credit rating, research and risk analysis firm now expects adjusted earnings for the year to be between $10.75 and $11.25 a share, compared with its previous guidance of $12.40 to $12.90 a share. The company also expects revenue to remain flat, rather than increase by a percentage in the high single digits, as it had previously forecasted.

The updated outlook for 2022 reflects its concern about ongoing market volatility roused by the war in Ukraine.

The company revised its guidance after reporting that its first-quarter profit fell by nearly a third from the year prior as revenue for its Investors Services business segment dropped 20% and its operating expenses grew by 16%.

Adjusted earnings were down 29% a share from the prior year, though they missed the forecast of analysts polled by FactSet by only 1 cent. Total revenue for the quarter dipped 5%, in line with analyst expectations.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2022 08:36 ET (12:36 GMT)

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