Macquarie Shares Drop Sharply After Disappointing Half-Year Results
Macquarie Group faced its largest intraday share decline since April, following half-year financial results that fell short of analyst expectations. The shares fell nearly 6.7% to $202.56, approaching a low of $202.37 during mid-day trading.
This decline is the steepest since April 4, when Macquarie's shares dropped 9% amid broad market volatility triggered by tariff announcements.
Weak Commodities Earnings Drive Down Performance
The primary factor behind the drop was weaker earnings reported by Macquarie's commodities division, outweighing other business segments.
Company Overview and Financials
Macquarie is a diversified financial services group, offering asset management, banking, advisory, risk, and capital solutions globally, with strong roots in Australia.
Despite the share decline, Macquarie posted a net profit close to $1.7 billion for the half-year, supported by performance fees in its asset management division.
UBS analyst John Storey said, "The reported result was 10.4 per cent below consensus estimates."
He also noted that earnings per share (EPS) of $4.37 missed expectations by 10.9 per cent.
Analysts had predicted a first-half profit of $1.86 billion and an interim dividend of $3.09, both figures not met by the report.
Summary
Macquarie's half-year results disappointed the market mainly due to weakness in its commodities unit, leading to a significant share price drop despite solid overall profits.
Author's summary: Macquarie's shares fell sharply after weaker-than-expected half-year earnings, mainly driven by underperformance in commodities, missing profit and dividend forecasts.