(1 February 2006 – Australia) Macquarie Bank has upgraded its full year earnings guidance, saying it expects to beat last year’s A$823 million profit.Macquarie managing director Allan Moss said the bank’s businesses had been performing well and that this year’s profit would be slightly up on last year.
This is despite the bank previously stating that it expected this year’s result to be similar to 2004/05.
Moss said the investment banking and equity capital markets deal pipeline was “satisfactory overall” and that Macquarie Bank Group’s specialist funds and co-investment syndicates were “reasonable”.
He said the bank would continue wit the sale of seed fund assets in calendar year 2006 and that this could include new specialist funds in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Moss said Macquarie’s investment banking, treasury and commodities, equity markets and financial services groups were expected to deliver lower results in the second half of the year as world markets were not performing as strongly as in the earlier part of the year.