(16 May 2006 – Australia) Macquarie Bank has delivered a A$916 million annual profit, up 13 percent on last year’s A$812 million profit.The result, which met forecasts, included a A$91 million one off windfall from the merger between Goodman Industrial Trust and Macquarie Goodman Management.
Macquarie chief executive Allan Moss said the bank expected to continue benefiting from geographic and product expansion as well as from good equity broking volumes.
He said the bank’s M&A advisory pipeline was looking strong, and that it was expecting good growth in its specialist investment funds over the next 12 months.
“We expect to benefit from recent staff growth and note this growth will continue with an emphasis on international,” Moss said.
“We will continue the roll out of investment banking services in Asia. International income will continue to make an increasingly important contribution,” he said.
The bank has boosted its international staff by about 20 percent over the past 12 months as it has ambitiously hunted for new business in Europe and the US. The London Stock Exchange and Eurotunnel are two of the bank’s recent high profile targets.