Macquarie hamstrung by asset sales, plots $2b buyback
Macquarie’s first-half net profit slumped 39 per cent as market volatility and fewer opportunities to trade assets led to a dip in activity across its business lines, from deal making to funds management.
The board also approved a share buyback of up to $2 billion.
The group said global economic conditions, persistent inflation and geopolitical events meant it would apply a conservative approach to capital deployment and funding. It is a rare downturn for the asset manager, which leveraged multiple sales and record trading volumes in its Americas’ gas and commodities divisions to juice group profits last year.
Macquarie Group CEO Shemara Wikramanayake said the bank’s Michael Quelch
Net profit fell 38.7 per cent to $1.4 billion for the first half of the 2024 financial year, from $2.3 billion a year earlier, Macquarie revealed on Friday.
Chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake said the results were “substantially down”. She expected important transactions in Macquarie’s green energy business to close in the second half of 2024.
The group also announced that Wayne Byres, the former Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman, would join Macquarie as a non-executive director. His appointment, effective February 1, 2024, comes after Michael Coleman’s expected retirement next year.
Group capital was in surplus of $10.5 billion, and an interim dividend was declared at $2.55 a share, which represented a 70 per cent payout ratio. The dividend was down from a $4.50 a share final dividend paid out in July.
Profits at Macquarie’s annuity-style businesses, which includes asset management and banking and financial services, slumped 43 per cent to roughly $1.3 billion as asset management saw fewer sales and banking grappled with
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