Investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd
(ASX:MQG) has reported a 21 per cent fall in first half profit today due to one-off charges.
Net profit after tax for the six months to September 30 came to $479 million, up 79 per cent from the prior half and down from the $604 million recorded for the same period a year ago.
However operating income, before write-downs and impairment charges rose 9 per cent to $3.5 billion from the prior six months, but was down 11 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
CEO Nicholas Moore says the result was impacted by a number of one-off items and equity accounted gains and losses resulting in a charge of $414 million.
Reported assets under management decreased by $27 billion to $216 billion, mainly due the bank says, to the strengthening of the Australian dollar since March.
Capital as at September 30 was $11.5 billion, which is $4.5 billion in excess of Macquarie’s minimum regulatory capital requirement.
Mr Moore says the company expects profit for the second half of 2010 to be broadly in line with the first half but remains subject to market conditions and significant swing factors and excludes the impact of one-off items.
Macquarie Group’s 2009 net profit took a big tumble from its result the year before.
