Macquarie Group shares hit a new record yesterday after the investor and investment bank revealed that first half profit could be close to $2 billion for the six months to September 30.
The bank told the ASX yesterday its profit for the first half is likely to be less than the $2.03 billion it made in the six months to March, as it highlighted strong market conditions and lucrative fees from a number of deals.
The investment banking group on Wednesday provided an investor presentation that included guidance for its first half results, which will be released in November.
The guidance said Macquarie expected the first-half results for the current 2022 financial year to be “slightly down” on the six months to March.
Previously at the July AGM it had indicated a strong start to the year through the June quarter.
The bank said ahead of the AGM that looking at the current first half it saw “Improved trading conditions with 1Q22 operating group contribution significantly up on the prior corresponding period (pcp) (1Q21) which had mixed trading conditions”
While it is expecting profits to dip slightly, the March half was a strong period for Macquarie, with the $2.03 billion in earnings accounting for two thirds of its annual profits in 2020-21.
Macquarie however did not repeat the comparison with the first half of 2020-21 but with the final six months to March 31.
Macquarie’s guidance on Wednesday said its first half profits had benefited from favourable market conditions, which drove a stronger result than it had expected in the commodities and global markets division.
The result is also set to be buoyed by the sale of Macquarie’s UK smart meter portfolio, it said, and fees from Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation flowing to its asset management arm. In a statement in early May announcing the sale of this asset, Macquarie did not give any details on the sale price or any profit.
The shares peaked at an all-time high of $182.66 in trading on Wednesday but faded a little to close up 4.9% at $179.13, another record close.
