May 8 - Macquarie, the Sydney-headquartered investment bank, reported its strongest annual net profit in three years on Friday, beating analyst forecasts as its commodities trading arm benefited from elevated client hedging activity amid heightened market volatility. Shares in the lender rose roughly 3% in early trade to a record A$249.49 even as the benchmark stock index slipped 1.1%.
The bank said income from its Commodities and Global Markets - CGM - segment rose by nearly 50% to A$4.22 billion ($3.04 billion). Macquarie attributed the jump to a surge in client hedging across its Global Gas and Power and Global Oil units, and to higher trading income generated by supply and demand imbalances in North American Gas and Power and oil trading. The firm noted that the Iran war had pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel and contributed to the market disruption that underpinned trading gains.
Macquarie also said CGM’s performance was supported by the earlier disposal of its OnStream meters platform. The platform had been acquired as part of a purchase of a UK smart meters business in 2025 for around 900 million pounds ($1.22 billion).
Combining the strong showing from its market-facing businesses with solid results from annuity-style operations, Macquarie’s full-year net profit after tax attributable to shareholders climbed to A$4.85 billion. That outcome outpaced a Visible Alpha consensus of A$4.39 billion and represented a 30% increase from A$3.72 billion in the prior year.
Analysts at Citi said in a note that Macquarie appears to be positioning itself for future deployment opportunities and that the bank is likely more confident about prospects in CGM given the potential for higher-for-longer commodity volatility.
On capital management, Macquarie said it would conclude its on-market share buyback programme, noting that strong business growth and prevailing market conditions meant no further purchases were expected. The bank had earlier extended a A$2 billion buyback by 12 months in November after repurchasing A$1.01 billion worth of shares as of November 7, and disclosed it had made no purchases since that date.
The lender declared a final dividend of A$4.20 per share for the year, up from A$3.90 per share in 2025.
Currency conversions cited by the company were ($1 = 1.3883 Australian dollars) and ($1 = 0.7380 pounds).
The results underline the sensitivity of Macquarie’s market-facing earnings to commodity price swings and client hedging demand, particularly within its Global Gas and Power and Global Oil operations. The bank’s decision to cease further on-market buybacks reflects management’s assessment of current conditions and the strength of its business performance.