NEW YORK (Reuters) - Moody’s Corp (MCO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the parent of Moody’s Investors Service, on Wednesday said second-quarter profit fell 48 percent, hurt by a steep slide in demand for credit ratings for structured products in the year-long credit crisis.

Results nevertheless topped analyst forecasts. McGraw-Hill Cos, which operates Moody’s main rival Standard & Poor’s, on Tuesday posted a smaller-than-expected 23 percent decline in quarterly profit. Both companies also affirmed their 2008 earnings forecasts.

Second-quarter net income for New York-based Moody’s, whose largest investor is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, fell to $135.2 million, or 54 cents per share, from $261.9 million, or 95 cents, a year earlier.

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