Macquarie's quarterly profit falls, CFO Harvey decides to step down
Harvey will retire mid-2026 after completing an extended handover to his successor, Frank Kwok, who has been with Macquarie for 28 years and currently serves as deputy CFO, the company said.
The leadership changes come as Australia's corporate regulator (ASIC) has sued Macquarie, alleging it misreported up to A$1.5 billion worth of short sales over a 15-year period, misleading the market and violating transparency rules put in place following the global financial crisis.
Macquarie indicated it may adjust executive bonuses following the ASIC lawsuit, stating, "So far as remuneration impacts are concerned, this will be an FY26 matter, about which the board will come to a view over the period ahead."
"As CFO for the last eight years, Alex has delivered a significant transformation in Macquarie's financial management and stakeholder engagement activities, playing a key role in driving the global growth of the Group," Macquarie said.
The bank's first-quarter net profit declined due to lower contributions from its Asset Management arm and Commodities and Global Markets unit.
Macquarie Asset Management experienced a softer quarter compared to last year, with net profit contribution down primarily due to timing of investment-related income from asset realisations.
Meanwhile, Commodities and Global Markets unit's net profit contribution fell due to reduced contribution from Commodities, which recorded lower net interest and trading income in North American Gas and Power.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Australian-made rocket crashes with Vegemite payload
An Australian orbital rocket carrying a jar of Vegemite in its nose cone crashed after 14 seconds of flight on Wednesday. Gilmour Space Technologies, the aerospace company behind the launch, is attempting to send the first Australian-made rocket into orbit from the country's soil. The firm had said earlier it would consider the launch a success if the rocket left the ground. 'I'm so relieved you couldn't believe,' Adam Gilmour, the chief executive of the aerospace firm told AFP news agency. 'I was so nervous about it getting off the pad, that when it did I screamed in pure joy.' Footage shows the rocket barely clearing the top of the launch tower, briefly hovering above the ground before running out of steam. The 23-metre vehicle – designed to launch small satellites into low-Earth orbit – took off from Abbot Point, about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) up from Brisbane. The payload for the test flight was a jar of Vegemite, a popular Australian spread, which was strapped inside the rocket's nose cone. Mr Gilmour said preparations for a second test flight were already under way, with a view to launching within the next 'six to eight months'. 'It's huge what you can prove with just 10 to 15 seconds of flight time,' he said. He added: 'I'm sorry to say the Vegemite didn't make it.' Millions in grants The company, which has 230 employees, hopes to start commercial launches in late 2026 or early 2027. Gilmour Space Technologies has private funders and was awarded a grant of five million Australian dollars (£2.4m) this month from the country's federal government for the development of the Eris rocket. It followed the firm's A$52m (£25.3m) grant agreement with the government in 2023 to advance the development and commercialisation of new space technologies in Australia. The country has been the site of hundreds of suborbital vehicle launches but there have only been two successful launches to orbit from Australia before, according to the aerospace news platform NASASpaceFlight. The Eris test flight was the first orbital launch attempt from Australia in more than 50 years.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Portugal's EDP profit dips 7% after no capital gains
LISBON, July 31 (Reuters) - Portugal's largest power utility EDP ( opens new tab on Thursday reported a 7% fall in first-half net profit despite increased output, citing lower returns from asset sales. It said consolidated net profit stood at 709 million euros ($812 million), compared to 775 million euros a year ago. EDP said it booked no capital gains from the sale of wind and solar assets – part of a strategy of disposing stakes in mature plants to finance new ones – in the first half. A year ago, it logged 184 million euros in this type of gains. Excluding capital gains, recurring net profit rose 27%, supported by a robust growth in electricity generation "with a strong contribution from U.S. operations, and a solid performance of electricity networks in Iberia and Brazil", it said in a statement. Subsidiary EDP Renovaveis ( opens new tab, the world's fourth-largest wind energy producer, on Wednesday reported a 56% fall in net profit to 93 million euros, although its recurrent profit tripled compared to a year ago boosted by its U.S. business. EDP said total electricity generation increased 12% to 34.6 terawatt-hours, sustained by high rainfall in Iberia that filled reservoir volumes to 87% of their capacity and by natural gas power plants. It added that after the April 28 power outage in Iberia, production from natural gas plants was prioritised to strengthen the resilience of the electrical system. In the Iberian market, first-half average electricity spot prices also rose to 62 euros per megawatt hour, from 39 euros a year ago, it said. Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell 4% to 2.6 billion euros, but excluding capital gains, recurring EBITDA increased by 7%. As of June, EDP's installed capacity reached 32.3 GW, up 3.1 GW from a year ago. ($1 = 0.8735 euros)
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
New Zealand reverses ‘ill-fated' oil and gas ban
New Zealand will reverse its ban on new oil and gas exploration that was put in place under Jacinda Ardern, the former Left-wing prime minister. The country's government voted on Thursday to overturn the ban, with Shane Jones, the resources minister, arguing that climate change was 'largely moral hysteria'. He said overturning the ban would stoke investment in petroleum exploration and help ease winter energy supply issues. Mr Jones said: in a statement: 'The ill-fated exploration ban in 2018 has exacerbated shortages in our domestic gas supply by obliterating new investment.' Ms Ardern – who led the country between 2017 and 2023 – banned new offshore exploration in 2018, citing New Zealand's 'clean, green and sustainable future'. She was seen as a champion of the environment, banning offshore gas exploration and declaring a 'climate emergency'. But in the years since, energy prices in New Zealand have increased more than 10 per cent, even as households used less power. Transpower, the state-owned company which manages the power grid, reported in May there is a higher risk of blackouts next winter because of a lack of energy supply. The company said solar, wind and battery storage was not emerging quick enough to make up for dwindling supply from gas fields. Jones described the exploration ban as 'the worst energy [and] natural resource decision' in New Zealand's history. 'We are not going to ... corrode the productivity of our economy by denying ourselves access to fossil fuels,' he said. 'The high tide mark of that heresy has come and gone.' Asked if he consulted with indigenous Maori over the laws in a debate, Mr Jones, who is Maori, said: 'I interviewed myself. 'I spoke to no climate group. I spoke to no [Maori] group. I engaged with the people who are investing and who will be the risk takers to salvage and rescue this sector, and I'm extraordinarily proud of myself that I've done that.' 'Wrong-headed' It was a stark U-turn for Mr Jones, who was a minister in Ms Ardern's government when the 2018 exploration ban was passed. He had also voted in favour of the ban. He recently described his former colleague as a 'political fugitive' who had fled the country to teach at Harvard. Megan Woods, an energy spokeswoman from the opposition, said on Thursday the government was putting 'the interests of the oil and gas companies at the forefront'. 'Restarting oil and gas is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard.' Steve Abel, a Green Party MP, said the government was 'wrong-headed and archaic'. He added: 'It's extraordinary that here we are this many years later and they're bringing back oil and gas exploration after our nation was celebrated around the world for its vision.' The government had planned to pass the legislation by the end of 2024, but it was delayed several times. A drafting error was cited as a reason. The bill has many critics and was opposed by all opposition parties. However, it was voted through by a count of 68-54. The government conceded, however, that new exploration was unlikely to bolster oil or gas supplies for at least another decade.
