This discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations
should be read in conjunction with the Moody's Corporation condensed
consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this
quarterly report on Form 10-Q.
This Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations contains Forward-Looking Statements. See "Forward-Looking Statements"
commencing on page 79 for a discussion of uncertainties, risks and other
factors associated with these statements.
THE COMPANY
Moody's is a global integrated risk assessment firm that empowers organizations
and investors to make better decisions. Moody's reports in two segments: MIS and
MA.
MIS publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on a wide range of
debt obligations, programs and facilities, and the entities that issue such
obligations in markets worldwide, including various corporate, financial
institution and governmental obligations, and structured finance securities.
MA is a global provider of: i) data and information; ii) research and insights;
and iii) decision solutions, which help companies make better and faster
decisions. MA leverages its industry expertise across multiple risks such as
credit, market, financial crime, supply chain, catastrophe and climate to
deliver integrated risk assessment solutions that enable business leaders to
identify, measure and manage the implications of interrelated risks and
opportunities.
Sustainability
Moody's manages its business with the goal of delivering value to all of its
stakeholders, including but not limited to, its customers, employees, business
partners, local communities and stockholders. As part of this effort, Moody's
advances sustainability by considering environmental, social, and governance
("ESG") factors throughout its operations, products and services. The Company
uses its expertise and assets to make a positive difference through technology
tools, research and analytical services that help other organizations and the
investor community better understand the links between sustainability
considerations and the global markets. Moody's efforts to promote
sustainability-related thought leadership, assessments and data to market
participants include adhering to the policies of recognized sustainability
organizations that develop standards or frameworks and/or evaluate and assess
performance, including: the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI); Sustainability
Accounting Standards Board (SASB); and the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s
Stakeholder Capitalism metrics. Moody's also issues an annual report on
Stakeholder Sustainability and on how the Company has implemented the Task Force
on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD") recommendations. Moody's
sustainability-related achievements during the first three quarters of 2022
included the following:
-Validated Moody's long-term net-zero targets with SBTi;
-Rolled out an all-employee training on Sustainability and ESG;
-Named 2021 CDP Supplier Engagement Leader on Climate Action for second
consecutive year;
-Awarded Best ESG Reporting (large-cap) from IR Magazine U.S. 2022 and
'Sustainability reporting of the year - Americas' from Environmental Finance
Company Awards 2022;
-Published Moody's 2021 Stakeholder Sustainability report and 2021 TCFD report;
-Issued an inaugural global tax policy; and
-Updated Moody's decarbonization plan
The Board oversees sustainability matters, with assistance from the Audit,
Governance & Nominating and Compensation & Human Resources Committees, as part
of its oversight of management and the Company's overall strategy. The Board
also oversees Moody's policies for assessing and managing our exposure to risk,
including climate-related risks such as business continuity disruption.
Current Matters Impacting Moody's Business
Current Macroeconomic Uncertainties/Market Volatility
The Company is monitoring current macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties
that have contributed to declines in rated issuance volumes in 2022. A
substantial portion of MIS's revenue is impacted by the level of issuance
activity in the fixed income capital markets, both in the U.S. and
internationally. While market volatility in 2022 has resulted in declines in
rated issuance volumes, the Company believes that these declines are
predominantly transitory in nature. However, due to various uncertainties,
Moody's is unable to predict the severity and duration of current macroeconomic
and geopolitical uncertainties and their potential impact on future ratings
issuance volumes. Refer to Item 1A. "Risk Factors" contained in the Company's
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 for further
disclosure relating to these risks.
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Russia/Ukraine Conflict
The Company is closely monitoring the impact of the ongoing Russia/Ukraine
conflict on all aspects of its business. In response to the conflict, the
Company is no longer conducting commercial operations in Russia for both MIS and
MA and is complying with all applicable regulatory restrictions set forth by the
jurisdictions in which Moody's operates. Furthermore, the Company also has
withdrawn MIS credit ratings on Russian entities.
While Moody's Russian operations and net assets are not material, broader global
market volatility, which partially relates to uncertainties surrounding the
conflict, has contributed to an adverse impact on rated issuance volumes in
2022. This impact to rated issuance volumes is more fully discussed in the
"Results of Operations" section of this MD&A. The Company is unable to predict
either the near-term or longer-term impact that the conflict may have on its
financial position and operating results due to numerous uncertainties regarding
the severity and duration of the conflict and its broader potential
macroeconomic impact.
COVID-19
The Company continues to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
all aspects of its business. The Company continues to monitor regional
developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic to inform decisions regarding its
offices and its business travel policies. As of the date of the filing of this
quarterly report on Form 10-Q, the Company has reopened all of its offices for
employees to access.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not had a material adverse impact on the Company's
reported results to date and is currently not expected to have a material
adverse impact on its near-term outlook. However, Moody's is unable to predict
the longer-term impact that the pandemic may have on its business, future
results of operations, financial position or cash flows due to numerous
uncertainties. Refer to Item 1A. "Risk Factors" contained in the Company's
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 for further
disclosure relating to the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's
business.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Moody's discussion and analysis of its financial condition and results of
operations are based on the Company's consolidated financial statements, which
have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires
Moody's to make estimates and judgments that affect reported amounts of assets
and liabilities and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at
the dates of the financial statements and revenue and expenses during the
reporting periods. These estimates are based on historical experience and on
other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. On
an ongoing basis, Moody's evaluates its estimates, including those related to
revenue recognition, accounts receivable allowances, contingencies,
restructuring, goodwill and acquired intangible assets, pension and other
retirement benefits, stock-based compensation, and income taxes. Actual results
may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Item
7, MD&A, in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2021, includes descriptions of some of the judgments that Moody's
makes in applying its accounting estimates in these areas. Since the date of the
annual report on Form 10-K, there have been no material changes to the Company's
critical accounting estimates disclosures other than the update below relating
to the results of the Company's annual impairment assessment as of July 31,
2022.
Goodwill and Other Acquired Intangible Assets
On July 31st of each year, Moody's evaluates its goodwill for impairment at the
reporting unit level, defined as an operating segment (i.e., MIS and MA), or one
level below an operating segment (i.e., a component of an operating segment). At
July 31, 2022, the Company has four reporting units: two within the Company's
ratings business (one for the ICRA business and one that encompasses all of
Moody's other ratings operations) and two reporting units within MA consisting
of businesses that offer: i) data and data-driven analytical solutions; and ii)
risk management software, workflow and CRE solutions.
The Company evaluates the recoverability of goodwill using a two-step impairment
test approach at the reporting unit level. In the first step, the Company
assesses various qualitative factors to determine whether the fair value of a
reporting unit may be less than its carrying amount. If a determination is made
based on the qualitative factors that an impairment does not exist, the Company
is not required to perform further testing. If the aforementioned qualitative
assessment results in the Company concluding that it is more likely than not
that the fair value of a reporting unit may be less than its carrying amount,
the fair value of the reporting unit will be quantitatively determined and
compared to its carrying value including goodwill. If the fair value of the
reporting unit exceeds the carrying value of the net assets assigned to that
unit, goodwill is not impaired and the Company is not required to perform
further testing. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the
carrying value, the Company will record a goodwill impairment charge for the
amount by which the carrying value exceeds the reporting unit's fair value. The
Company evaluates its reporting units on an annual basis, or more frequently if
there are changes in the reporting structure of the Company due to acquisitions,
realignments or if there are indicators of potential impairment. For the
reporting units where the Company is consistently able to conclude that no
impairment exists using only a qualitative approach, the Company's accounting
policy is to perform the second step of the aforementioned goodwill impairment
assessment at least once every three years.
The Company last performed quantitative assessments on all reporting units at
July 31, 2021, pursuant to a change in reporting unit structure in the MA
reportable segment, which is more fully discussed in Item 7, MD&A, in the
Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. The
quantitative assessments performed at July 31, 2021 resulted in fair values that
significantly exceeded carrying values for all reporting units.
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Determining the fair value of a reporting unit involves the use of significant
estimates and assumptions, which are more fully described within Item 7, MD&A,
in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2021. In addition, the Company also makes certain judgments and assumptions in
allocating shared assets and liabilities to determine the carrying values for
each of its reporting units.
Annual goodwill impairment assessment performed at July 31, 2022
At July 31, 2022, the Company performed a qualitative assessment for each of the
reporting units. The qualitative analyses resulted in the Company determining
that it was not more likely than not that the fair value of any reporting unit
was less than its carrying amount.
Reportable Segments
The Company is organized into two reportable segments as of September 30, 2022:
MIS and MA, which are more fully described in the section entitled "The Company"
above and in Note 18 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.
Reclassification of Previously Reported Revenue by LOB
In the first quarter of 2022, the Company realigned its revenue by LOB reporting
structure for the MA operating segment to enhance insight and transparency into
this business. As of January 1, 2022, the MA LOBs have been realigned from RD&A
and ERS to:
-Decision Solutions (DS) - provides software and workflow tools for specific use
cases (banking, insurance, KYC/KYS, CRE and structured finance solutions). This
LOB utilizes components from the Data & Information and Research & Insights LOBs
to provide integrated risk solutions;
-Research & Insights (R&I) - provides models, scores, expert insights and
commentary. This LOB includes: credit research; credit models and analytics; and
economics data and models; and
-Data & Information (D&I) - provides vast data sets on companies and securities
via data feeds and data applications products.
Prior year revenue by LOB amounts have been reclassified to conform to the new
LOB reporting structure, which is presented below in the section entitled
"Results of Operations."
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Impact of acquisitions on comparative results
Moody's completed the following acquisitions, which impact the Company's
year-over-year comparative results:
-Cortera on March 19, 2021;
-RMS on September 15, 2021;
-RealXData on September 17, 2021;
-PassFort on November 30, 2021; and
-kompany on February 28, 2022.
Refer to the section entitled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" of this MD&A for the
definitions of how the Company determines certain organic growth measures used
in this MD&A that exclude the impact of acquisition activity.
The following footnotes are applicable throughout the discussion of the
Company's results of operations:
(1) Refer to the section entitled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" of this MD&A for
the definition and methodology that the Company utilizes to calculate this
metric.
(2) Refer to the section entitled "Key Performance Metrics" of this MD&A for the
definition and methodology that the Company utilizes to calculate this metric.
(3) Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin and Adjusted Diluted
EPS are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the section entitled "Non-GAAP
Financial Measures" of this MD&A for further information regarding these
measures.
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Three months ended September 30, 2022 compared with three months ended
September 30, 2021
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