Macquarie Group’s First-Half Profits Rise 45%, But Fearful Investors Cash Out
Mike Caggeso
Associate Editor
Investors backed away from Australian bank Macquarie Group Ltd. – despite a 45% gain in first-half profit – after Chief Financial Officer Greg Ward warned that the "very, very favourable equity market" the company enjoyed in the first half "may not be as favourable in the second half."
Shares of Australia’s largest security firm fell 3.7% on the news, though Ward said in a company statement that profits from this year’s second half would at least be equal to the $661 million earned in the second half of last year.
Macquarie said profits for the six months ended Sept. 30 reached $931 million [at A$1.06 billion, exceeding the A$1 billion for the first time]. CFO Ward and Chief Executive Officer Allan Moss lauded the company’s international performance – income rose 96% in the Asia/Pacific region; rose 55% in Europe, Middle East and Africa; and climbed 57% in the Americas – saying the company wasn’t exposed to the credit-market disruptions that plagued other industry rivals.
However, a rally in the stock markets that carried the day for the bank in the first half has already stumbled, and further backtracking will make it hard for Macquarie to replicate its stellar first half, the bank said.
News and Related Story Links:
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