Macquarie Group’s shares tumbled 4.3per cent to $1.75 at the open on Thursday after the company reported its net profit took a hit for the first quarter of 2024, compared with the same period a year earlier, due to weaker trading conditions.
“We had much weaker trading conditions and that meant our net profit contribution was substantially down on the first quarter of 2023,” chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake, said. Ms Wikramanayake said she expected the investment banking arm to enjoy a bump in transaction activity after a docile 2023, which was hit by higher interest rate volatility and tougher conditions for mergers and acquisitions and capital markets.
Macquarie recorded a 10 per cent bump in net profit of $5.2 billion in March. Its return on equity was 16.9 per cent. The shareholder dividend was up 21 per cent, year-on-year, to $7.5.At its annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday, Macquarie’s board welcome Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, a group director as of June 1. She was CEO of Mirvac.