Macquarie’s stronger quarter



Macquarie Group has recorded a stronger first quarter, with its chief executive and managing director Nicholas Moore pointing to better results across key divisions of the business, including banking and financial services.
In a first quarter update released ahead of the Macquarie Group annual general meeting, Moore pointed to strong performance from the Macquarie Funds Group and from the company's annuities-style business.
As well, he pointed to the successful completion of the Perpetual platform transfer to Macquarie Wrap, which contributed to a 33 per cent increase in wrap funds under administration to $33 billion.
Moore said that as a result of the improved performance of various divisions — and while market volatility made forecasting difficult — it was currently expected the financial year 2014 net profit contribution would be up on the previous financial year.
"Accordingly, the 2013 financial year result for the group is expected to be an improvement on FH13, provided market conditions for 20134 are not worse than those experienced over the past 12 months," he said. In line with previous years, it is currently expected that the second half result for 2014 will be stronger than the first half.
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