Moody's revenue rose 15 percent and its earnings jumped as debt issuance ran hot

Fifty-seven percent. That is how far Moody's diluted earnings per share climbed in the second quarter, to $5.03 from $3.21 a year earlier, in results dated July 22.

Revenue rose 15 percent to $2,185m, and 16 percent stripping out currency. The engine was the ratings business. Moody's Investors Service, which rates corporate and government debt, grew revenue 25 percent to $1,260m, and the transactional line inside it, the fees tied to new issuance, rose 34 percent to $891m. Companies borrowed, and Moody's rated what they sold. The adjusted operating margin widened 440 basis points to 55.3 percent as the extra revenue met a largely fixed cost base.

Moody's Analytics, the data and software arm, was quieter. Revenue there rose 4 percent to $925m, or 8 percent on an organic constant-currency basis, with recurring revenue at 99 percent of the segment total.

The company narrowed its full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $16.50 to $17.00 and raised its buyback plan to up to $3.0bn, having already repurchased about $2.2bn this year. Rob Fauber, the president and chief executive, said customers were turning to the firm to make consequential decisions with greater confidence.