S&P Global 10-Q 2025-03-31
Filed 2025-04-29. 8 sections, 232K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown · JSON
Cover and table of contents
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
| ☑ | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2025
OR
| ☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number: 1-1023

S&P Global Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| New York | 13-1026995 | ||||||||||||||||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||||||||||||||
| 55 Water Street | , | New York | , | New York | 10041 | ||||||||||||
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 212-438-1000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Class | Trading Symbol | Name of Exchange on which registered | ||||||||||||
| Common stock (par value $1.00 per share) | SPGI | New York Stock Exchange |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Date File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company”, and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| ☑ | Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES ☐ NO ☑
As of April 25, 2025 (latest practicable date), 306.7 million shares of the issuer's classes of common stock (par value $1.00 per share) were outstanding excluding 7.2 million outstanding common shares held by the Markit Group Holdings Limited Employee Benefit Trust.
S&P Global Inc.
INDEX
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of S&P Global Inc.
Results of Review of Interim Financial Statements
We have reviewed the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of S&P Global Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of March 31, 2025, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, and equity for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, the related consolidated statements of cash flows for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated interim financial statements”). Based on our reviews, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the consolidated interim financial statements for them to be in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We have previously audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of December 31, 2024, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, equity and cash flows for the year then ended, and the related notes and schedule (not presented herein); and in our report dated February 11, 2025, we expressed an unqualified audit opinion on those consolidated financial statements. In our opinion, the information set forth in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2024, is fairly stated, in all material respects, in relation to the consolidated balance sheet from which it has been derived.
Basis for Review Results
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the PCAOB. We conducted our review in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. A review of interim financial statements consists principally of applying analytical procedures and making inquiries of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters. It is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB, the objective of which is the expression of an opinion regarding the financial statements taken as a whole. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion.
/s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP
New York, New York
April 29, 2025
PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
S&P Global Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Income
(Unaudited)
| (in millions, except per share amounts) | Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 3,777 | $ | 3,491 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating-related expenses | 1,153 | 1,111 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Selling and general expenses | 764 | 714 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 25 | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Amortization of intangibles | 268 | 264 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total expenses | 2,210 | 2,112 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity in income on unconsolidated subsidiaries | (11) | (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating profit | 1,578 | 1,385 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Other expense (income), net | 4 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense, net | 78 | 78 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Income before taxes on income | 1,496 | 1,316 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Provision for taxes on income | 325 | 248 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | 1,171 | 1,068 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: net income attributable to noncontrolling interests | (81) | (77) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to S&P Global Inc. | $ | 1,090 | $ | 991 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Earnings per share attributable to S&P Global Inc. common shareholders: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 3.55 | $ | 3.16 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Diluted | $ | 3.54 | $ | 3.16 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basic | 307.3 | 313.6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Diluted | 307.7 | 314.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Actual shares outstanding at period end | 306.7 | 313.1 |
See accompanying notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements.
S&P Global Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
(Unaudited)
| (in millions) | Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 1,171 | $ | 1,068 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation adjustments | 33 | (71) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax effect | 19 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 52 | (79) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefit plans | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax effect | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain on cash flow hedges | 5 | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax effect | (1) | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive income | 1,228 | 1,006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: comprehensive income attributable to nonredeemable noncontrolling interests | (4) | (7) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: comprehensive income attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interests | (77) | (70) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive income attributable to S&P Global Inc. | $ | 1,147 | $ | 929 |
See accompanying notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements.
S&P Global Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
| (in millions) | March 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |||||||||
| (Unaudited) | |||||||||||
| ASSETS | |||||||||||
| Current assets: | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 1,469 | $ | 1,666 | |||||||
| Restricted cash | — | — | |||||||||
| Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubt |
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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (Unaudited)
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) provides a narrative of the results of operations and financial condition of S&P Global Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “S&P Global,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The MD&A should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, accompanying notes and MD&A included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 (our “Form 10-K”), which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The MD&A includes the following sections:
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Overview
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Results of Operations — Comparing the Three Months Ended March 31, 2025 and 2024
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
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Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Information
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Critical Accounting Estimates
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Recently Issued or Adopted Accounting Standards
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Forward-Looking Statements
OVERVIEW
We are a provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets. The capital markets include asset managers, investment banks, commercial banks, insurance companies, exchanges, trading firms and issuers; the commodity markets include producers, consumers, traders and intermediaries within energy, chemicals, shipping, metals, carbon and agriculture; and the automotive markets include manufacturers, suppliers, dealerships, service shops and customers.
Our operations consist of five reportable segments: S&P Global Market Intelligence (“Market Intelligence”), S&P Global Ratings (“Ratings”), S&P Global Commodity Insights (“Commodity Insights”), S&P Global Mobility (“Mobility”) and S&P Dow Jones Indices (“Indices”).
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Market Intelligence is a global provider of multi-asset-class data and analytics integrated with purpose-built workflow solutions.
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Ratings is an independent provider of credit ratings, research, and analytics, offering investors and other market participants information, ratings and benchmarks.
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Commodity Insights is a leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodity and energy markets.
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Mobility is a leading provider of solutions serving the full automotive value chain including vehicle manufacturers (Original Equipment Manufacturers or OEMs), automotive suppliers, mobility service providers, retailers, consumers, and finance and insurance companies.
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Indices is a global index provider maintaining a wide variety of valuation and index benchmarks for investment advisors, wealth managers and institutional investors.
On April 29, 2025, we announced that our Board of Directors decided to pursue a full separation of our Mobility segment, creating a new publicly traded company. The transaction, which would be implemented through the spin-off of shares of the new company to S&P Global shareholders, is expected to be tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes for S&P Global shareholders and is expected to be completed over the upcoming 12 to 18 months, subject to the satisfaction of customary legal and regulatory requirements and approvals.
Key results for the three months ended March 31 are as follows:
| (in millions, except per share amounts) | 2025 | 2024 | % Change 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 3,777 | $ | 3,491 | 8% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating profit 2 | $ | 1,578 | $ | 1,385 | 14% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating margin % | 42 | % | 40 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diluted earnings per share from net income | $ | 3.54 | $ | 3.16 | 12% |
1 % changes in the tables throughout the MD&A are calculated off of the actual number, not the rounded number presented.
2 2025 includes employee severance charges of $33 million, Executive Leadership Team transition costs of $12 million, acquisition-related costs of $9 million, a lease impairment of $6 million and disposition-related costs of $1 million. 2024 includes IHS Markit merger costs of $36 million, employee severance charges of $35 million, acquisition-related costs of $5 million and recovery of lease-related costs of $1 million. 2025 and 2024 also include amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $281 million and $278 million, respectively.
Revenue increased 8% driven by increases at all of our reportable segments. The increase at Ratings was driven by growth in both non-transaction revenue and transaction revenue. Non-transaction revenue increased primarily due to an increase in volume related to surveillance, commercial paper, and medium-term notes. Transaction revenue increased primarily due to structured finance revenue driven by increased collateralized loan obligations, bank loan ratings revenue due to higher M&A activity, and U.S. Public Finance revenue due to an increase in issuance volumes. The increase at Market Intelligence was primarily due to subscription revenue growth in Data, Analytics & Insights driven by the favorable impact of the acquisition of Visible Alpha in May of 2024, growth in RatingsXpress®, RatingsDirect® and Credit Analytics within Credit & Risk Solutions and growth for work flow solutions in Enterprise Solutions, partially offset by the unfavorable impact of the sale of Fincentric in August of 2024. The increase at Indices was primarily due to higher asset-linked fees revenue, higher exchange-traded derivative revenue and higher data subscription revenue. The increase at Commodity Insights was primarily due to continued demand for market data and market insights products driven by expanded product offerings to our existing customers under enterprise use contracts and an increase in conference revenue driven by increased attendance at CERAWeek in 2025. The increase at Mobility was primarily due to growth within the Dealer and Financial businesses driven by continued new business growth within the Dealer business and strong underwriting volumes and market share growth within the Financial business. Foreign exchange rates had an unfavorable impact of 1 percentage point.
Operating profit increased 14%. Excluding the impact of IHS Markit merger costs in 2024 of 11 percentage points, partially offset by Executive Leadership Team transition costs in 2025 of 4 percentage points, a lease impairment in 2025 of 2 percentage points and higher acquisition-related costs in 2025 of 1 percentage point, operating profit increased 10%. The increase was primarily due to revenue growth, partially offset by higher compensation costs driven by annual merit increases and additional headcount, and investments in strategic initiatives. Foreign exchange rates had an unfavorable impact of 1 percentage point.
Our Strategy
We are a provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets. Our purpose is to accelerate progress. We seek to deliver on this purpose in line with our core values of integrity, discovery and partnership.
Powering Global Markets is the framework for our forward-looking business strategy. Through this framework, we seek to deliver an exceptional, differentiated custo
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Our exposure to market risk includes changes in foreign exchange rates and interest rates. We have operations in foreign countries where the functional currency is primarily the local currency. For international operations that are determined to be extensions of the parent company, the U.S. dollar is the functional currency. We typically have naturally hedged positions in most countries from a local currency perspective with offsetting assets and liabilities. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we have entered into foreign exchange forward contracts in order to mitigate the change in fair value of specific assets and liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet. These forward contracts are not designated as hedges and do not qualify for hedge accounting. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we have entered into foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge the effect of adverse fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we held cross currency swaps to hedge a portion of our net investment in certain European subsidiaries against volatility in the Euro/U.S. dollar exchange rate. We have not entered into any derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes. See Note 5 - Derivative Instruments to the consolidated financial statements of this Form 10-Q for further discussion.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed so that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As of March 31, 2025, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the CEO and CFO, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Based on that evaluation, management, including the CEO and CFO, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2025.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the most recent quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
PART II – OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
See Note 12 – Commitments and Contingencies - Legal & Regulatory Matters to the consolidated financial statements of this Form 10-Q for information on our legal proceedings.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to the other information set forth in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, you should carefully consider the risk factors we have previously disclosed in Item 1A, Risk Factors, in our most recent Form 10-K, and the additional risk factor below.
The planned separation of our Mobility business into an independent, publicly traded company is contingent upon the satisfaction of a number of conditions, may not be completed on the currently contemplated timeline, or at all, and may not achieve the intended benefits.
On April 29, 2025, we announced our intent to pursue a separation of our Mobility business through a spin-off to our shareholders. The proposed separation is subject to various conditions, is complex in nature, and may be affected by unanticipated developments. The separation is intended to qualify as a tax-free transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes. There can be no assurance regarding the ultimate timing of the separation or that such separation will be completed. Unanticipated developments could delay, prevent or otherwise adversely affect the separation, including but not limited to disruptions in general or financial market conditions or potential problems or delays in satisfying required conditions. Such developments could cause the separation to occur on terms or conditions that are less favorable than anticipated. In addition, we may not be able to achieve the full strategic and financial benefits that we anticipate to result from the separation, or such benefits may be delayed or not occur at all. The anticipated benefits of the separation are based on a number of assumptions, some of which may prove incorrect. We also expect to incur significant expenses in connection with the separation, certain of which will be incurred even if the separation is not completed. Executing the separation will require significant resources, time and attention from our senior management and employees, which could divert attention and resources away from other projects and the day-to-day operation of our business. We may experience negative reactions from financial markets if we do not complete the separation in a reasonable time period. Following the proposed separation, the combined value of the shares of the two publicly-traded companies may not be equal to or greater than what the value of our shares would have been had the separation not occurred. The above factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or the price of our shares.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
On June 22, 2022, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of 30 million shares (the “2022 Repurchase Program”), which was approximately 9% of the total shares of our outstanding common stock at that time. During the first quarter of 2025, we received 1.3 millions shares, which included 0.3 million shares received from our accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) agreement that we entered into on October 28, 2024. Further discussion relating to our ASR agreements can be found in Note 8 - Equity. As of March 31, 2025, 10.7 million shares remained under the 2022 Repurchase Program.
Repurchased shares may be used for general corporate purposes, including the issuance of shares for stock compensation plans and to offset the dilutive effect of the exercise of employee stock options. Our 2022 Repurchase Program has no expiration date and purchases under this program may be made from time to time on the open market and in private transactions, depending on market conditions.
The following table provides information on our purchases of our outstanding common stock during the first quarter of 2025 pursuant to the 2022 Repurchase Program (column c). In addition to these purchases, the number of shares in column (a) include shares of common stock that are tendered to us to satisfy our employees’ tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of awards of restricted shares (we repurchase such shares based on their fair market value on the vesting date).
There were no other share repurchases during the quarter outside the repurchases noted below.
| Period | (a) Total Number of Shares Purchased | (b) Average Price Paid per Share | (c) Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Programs | (d) Maximum Number of Shares that may yet be Purchased Under the Programs | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| January 1— January 31, 2025 | 264 | $ | 495.50 | — | 12.0 | million | ||||||||||||||||||||
| February 1 — February 28, 2025 1,2 | 1,292,909 | 501.39 | 1,285,353 | 10.7 | million | |||||||||||||||||||||
| March 1 — March 31, 2025 | 101,423 | 516.77 | — | 10.7 | million | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total — Quarter 1,2 | 1,394,596 | $ | 504.96 | 1,285,353 | 10.7 | million |
1 Includes 0.3 million shares received from the conclusion of our ASR agreement that we entered into on October 28, 2024.
2 Includes 1.0 million shares received from the initiation of our ASR agreement that we entered into on February 19, 2025. Average price paid
per share information does not include this accelerated share repurchase transaction.
Item 5. Other Information
IRAN THREAT REDUCTION AND SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT DISCLOSURE
Pursuant to Section 219 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, which amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, an issuer is required to disclose in its annual or quarterly reports, as applicable, whether, during the reporting period, it or any of its affiliates knowingly engaged in certain activities, transactions or dealings relating to Iran or with individuals or entities designated pursuant to certain Executive Orders. Disclosure is generally required even where the activities, transactions or dealings were conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
During the first quarter of 2025, the Company engaged in limited transactions or dealings related to the purchase or sale of information and informational materials, which are generally exempt from U.S. economic sanctions, with persons that are owned or controlled, or appear to be owned or controlled, by the Government of Iran or are otherwise subject to disclosure pursuant to Section 219 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012. Commodities Insights provided subscribers access to proprietary data, analytics, and industry information that enable commodities markets to perform with greater transparency and efficiency. Market Intelligence sourced certain trade data from Iran. The Company will continue to monitor such activities closely. During the first quarter of 2025, the Company recorded no revenue or net profit attributable to the Commodities Insights transactions or dealings described above, which reflects the uncertainty of collection. The Company attributes a de minimis amount of gross revenues and net profits to the data sourced from Iran by Market Intelligence.
RULE 10b5-1 PLAN ELECTIONS
No Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangements or “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangements” (as defined by S-K Item 408(c)) were entered into or terminated by our directors or officers (as defined in Rule 16a-1(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) during the first quarter of 2025.
Item 6. Exhibits
- These exhibits relate to management contracts or compensatory plan arrangements.
† Pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) or 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K, as applicable, portions of the exhibit have been omitted. The Company hereby agrees to furnish an unredacted copy of the exhibit to the SEC upon request.
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this quarterly report on Form 10-Q to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| S&P Global Inc. | |||||||||||
| Registrant | |||||||||||
| Date: | April 29, 2025 | By: | /s/ Eric W. Aboaf | ||||||||
| Eric W. Aboaf | |||||||||||
| Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | |||||||||||
| Date: | April 29, 2025 | By: | /s/ Christopher F. Craig | ||||||||
| Christopher F. Craig | |||||||||||
| Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer | |||||||||||