Macquarie
An era ended at the so-called millionaires’ factory when legendary boss Nicholas Moore retired in November after more than a decade at the helm and 33 years at the bank. Moore has delivered an unbroken profit record at Macquarie, which has built up an infrastructure portfolio encompassing US tollways and European airports and utilities. His final months at the top were no exception: Moore announced net profit of A$1.31 billion ($942 million) for the first half of the financial year, which ends on September 30, up 5% higher from a year ago.
Assets under Macquarie management as of September 30 were A$551 billion, up 11% from A$496.7 billion at the end of March 2018. International income accounts for 67% of Macquarie’s total.
On the investment banking side, Macquarie says it advised on 228 transactions, worth a collective A$267 billion, with a roster of big deals: it was joint financial adviser to the Sydney Transport Partners consortium on its acquisition of a 51% interest in WestConnex from the New South Wales government for A$9.3 billion; joint lead manager, bookrunner and underwriter to Transurban Group on its A$4.2 billion share offer, the largest M&A fund-raising by an ASX-listed company in the last decade.
Macquarie’s two capital markets-facing divisions – Commodities and Global Markets and Macquarie Capital – delivered a combined profit contribution of A$1.1 billion for the September 2018 half, almost double the March 2018 number.
Moore departs Macquarie worth close to A$500 million, having famously never sold a Macquarie share of the 3.3 million he has collected along the way. His successor, Shemara Wikramanayake, 56, has quite an act to follow.