Macquarie Group chief executive Nicholas Moore said the decline was due to “the timing of transactions and lower volatility and volumes impacting Macquarie Securities Group and certain fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) businesses”.
Mr Moore said Macquarie’s FICC businesses experience mixed commodity markets over the quarter.
“Low volatility and prices in precious metals dampened client hedging activity; however client activity and trading opportunities in base metals and European, the Middle Eastern and African gas and power,” he said.
Mr Moore said Macquarie Securities Group was impacted by “reduced market volumes and client trading activity during the quarter, particularly in Asia”.
“However, Australian equity capital market activity remained strong, particularly initial public offerings,” he said.
Macquarie’s annuity-style businesses for the quarter were however broadly in line with both the prior quarter and the previous corresponding period, according to Mr Moore.
Despite the results for this quarter, he said he expects Macquarie Group’s net profit contribution for the 2015 financial year, ending 31 March 2015, to be up on 2014.
He also expects to see an improvement in results for the next quarter.
“Our short term outlook remains subject to a range of challenges including market conditions, the impact of foreign exchange, the cost of our continued conservative approach to funding and capital and potential regulatory changes and tax uncertainties,” said Mr Moore.
He also provided an update on the enforceable undertaking (EU) that Macquarie Private Wealth into with ASIC following surveillance which found recurring compliance deficiencies in the group’s advisers and their supervision.
The EU which focused on the effective of compliance in particular processes, controls and systems previously in place at Macquarie Private Wealth, Mr Moore said is now in its fourth and final stage which is subject to independent oversight by ASIC and independent expert KPMG.
