(Australia) – Australia’s only listed investment bank, Macquarie Bank, has announced a 41 percent lift in net profit to A$183 million for the six months to September 30.The result, which was well ahead of forecasts, was driven by robust fee income from Macquarie linked projects such as the A$5.6 billion Sydney Airport transaction.
The profit figure also included A$62 million in asset writedowns relating to the bank’s Macquarie Airports Trust investment.
Managing director Allan Moss forecast second half net profit would beat last year’s A$120 million, but said the second half result was likely to come in under the A$183 million first half figure.