Oct 21 (Reuters) - Credit bureau Equifax ( EFX ) raised

its annual revenue forecast and reported third-quarter profit

above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, helped by a

smaller-than-expected drop in mortgage inquiries.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut of the

year in September and expectations of further easing later in

2025 have fueled hopes of lower mortgage rates.

U.S. mortgage inquiries fell 7% in the quarter from a year

earlier, a smaller decline than Equifax's ( EFX ) expectation of a 12%

drop.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based company's revenue grew 7% to

$1.55 billion in the third quarter. Revenue from its workforce

solutions unit, the company's largest operating segment,

increased by 5% to $649.4 million.

Strong demand from government agencies for the company's

employment and income data services offset weakness in the

hiring market, driven by federal legislation imposing stricter

compliance standards for programs such as the Supplemental

Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid.

Earlier this month, U.S. data analytics company Fair Isaac

unveiled a program that lets mortgage resellers calculate and

distribute its credit scores directly to consumers.

Equifax's ( EFX ) CEO Mark Begor said the company is expanding its

VantageScore 4.0 mortgage credit score offerings "in response to

FICO's aggressive price actions".

"The pricing action that FICO put in place for 2026,

doubling of the price increase, is going to add half a billion

dollars of cost to the mortgage industry and consumers," Begor

added.

Equifax ( EFX ) shares, which have fallen 9.3% so far this year,

were down 0.6%.

The company now expects revenue for the full year between

$6.03 billion and $6.06 billion, above average analysts'

estimate of $6.02 billion, according to estimates compiled by

LSEG.

On an adjusted basis, Equifax ( EFX ) earned $252.9 million, or

$2.04 per share, in the three months ended September 30,

compared with analyst expectation of a profit of $1.93 per

share.