Sydney, May 12, 2026, 07:10 AEST
Macquarie Group Ltd posted a A$4.85 billion full-year profit, topping forecasts—Jefferies labeled the performance “strong,” yet Morningstar’s Nathan Zaia flagged the stock as overpriced. Shares last traded at A$239.34, inching up 0.05% after momentum from last week’s record faded. MarketScreener
The focus shifts to whether Australia’s biggest listed investment bank can sustain that earnings boost, following a year shaped by swings in energy markets, clients hedging, and divestments. What’s notable: the same result reveals Macquarie pushing further into retail banking—less volatile, more dependent on technology, pricing muscle, and scale.
Macquarie reported a 30% jump in net profit after tax for the year ended March 31, with second-half profit reaching a record A$3.19 billion. “Each of our businesses used its specialist expertise” in the current environment, Chief Executive Shemara Wikramanayake said. Earnings per share also climbed 30% to A$12.77. Macquarie
Commodities and Global Markets, or CGM, did the heavy lifting, with profit contribution jumping 49% to A$4.22 billion. The bank pointed to proceeds from selling OnStream meters, a boost in client hedging revenues—those are trades shielding customers from price volatility—and increased income from inventory and trading in gas, power, and oil.
Reuters said the result topped Visible Alpha’s A$4.39 billion consensus. Shares surged to a fresh record, hitting A$249.49 on results day, but slipped later as the S&P/ASX 200 lost ground too.
Retail banking is another area under scrutiny from investors. Speaking with Capital Brief, Wikramanayake described Banking and Financial Services as “scaling up a lot.” She downplayed any concerns over margin pressure as the division grows. Capital Brief
That move edges Macquarie further into competition with local heavyweights—Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, and National Australia Bank—across mortgages and deposits, though it’s still operating at a much smaller scale. Back in March, Macquarie reported its slice of the home loan market had reached roughly 7%, with a 6% share in deposits. By contrast, the majors continued to dominate, hanging on to about 75% of each market.
Morningstar Australasia senior equity analyst Zaia flagged that Macquarie’s profit topped the firm’s estimate by 14%, noting home-loan growth running roughly four times ahead of the market. Yet Morningstar hasn’t budged on its fair value estimate of A$205, calling the shares “overvalued” in plain terms. Morningstar
There’s a risk that the strongest stretch of this year won’t be easy to match again. According to Reuters Breakingviews, Macquarie’s challenge now is delivering a repeat without leaning on a one-time asset sale or the market swings triggered by the Iran conflict. Simon Wright, who leads CGM, told Reuters, “volatility is welcome,” though he cautioned that drawn-out instability tends to curb client demand. Reuters
Macquarie bumped up its final dividend to A$4.20 per share, pushing the total payout for the year to A$7.00. The record date is locked in for May 19, with payment scheduled for July 2. The board has wrapped up its on-market buyback after snapping up A$1.01 billion worth of ordinary shares at an average price of A$189.80; no additional purchases are on the table.
The bank isn’t pitching the result as a decisive move away from volatility. Instead, it’s sticking with a cautious approach, flagging market conditions, inflation, rates, geopolitics, currency swings and any tax or regulatory shifts as key variables that could steer the short-term picture.
