Macquarie Group’s securities business is set for a second consecutive annual loss if market conditions don’t improve.
In the release of its first-quarter 2013 results, the Australian investment bank notes, “Macquarie Securities Group continued to experience challenging market conditions stemming from weak investor confidence.”
It cites European sovereign debt concerns, slowing U.S. growth and concerns about Chinese deceleration.
Read: Macquarie slashes 2012 outlook
“Global ECM markets remained very subdued,” adds the release. “If current market conditions persist for the remainder of [fiscal 2013], Macquarie Securities is unlikely to be profitable for [fiscal 2013].”
Financial Times reports Goldman Sachs has lowered its earnings forecasts as a result.
As a whole, Macquarie Group’s Q1 2013 performance is higher than Q1 2012’s due to stronger performance by fixed-income, currencies and commodities, but is down from Q4 2012.
Chair Kevin McCann says, “As we indicated at our full-year results, the year to March 31, 2012 saw substantially lower levels of client activity in many of our capital-markets-facing businesses. This was partly offset by the ongoing growth of our annuity-style businesses, particularly Macquarie Funds Group and Corporate and Asset Finance Group.”
Here at home, Macquarie is ahead on its plan to add 250 advisor teams within five years.