Macquarie profit rises but warns on trade chaos and inflation as CEO paid $24m

Investment giant Macquarie handed its CEO a $24m pay packet, in a year where it smashed market forecasts for annual profit while warning trade faces the most intense pressure in decades.

Macquarie CEO Shemara Wikramanayake Picture: Supplied

Macquarie Group paid its chief executive $24m in a year it booked $3.71bn in profit, but has warned of trade chaos and a potential inflation upset ahead.

Ruling off its full year financials, up 5 per cent on last year, Macquarie’s result was carried by a strong second half where earnings were up 30 per cent on levels reported in the six months to September 2024.

CEO Shemara Wikramanayake said the group had “remained resilient over the past year, delivering new business origination and underlying income growth, contributing to our history of unbroken profitability”.

The result is better than forecast with UBS looking for $3.43bn and JP Morgan $3.67bn.

This came amid uncertainty around the trading performance of the financial giant, amid concerns of lower commodities income and subdued Macquarie Capital asset sales.

JP Morgan analyst Andrew Triggs also cautioned 2026 guidance was likely to significantly disappoint, with consensus estimates of 15 per cent earnings growth in 2026 “quite unrealistic”.

This is despite Macquarie selling its American investment operation, formerly known as Delaware, to Nomura in a $2.8bn deal.

Ms Wikramanayake, who remains among the best paid executives in Australia, said Macquarie “remains well-positioned to deliver superior performance in the medium term”.

Her pay packet was a slight haircut on her $25.2m earned last year.

Only Macquarie’s Commodities and Global Markets boss Simon Wright came close to the CEO after taking home $22.7m in the 2025 financial year.

Macquarie Asset Management’s boss Ben Way made $12.7m, up on $11.3m.

Macquarie Capital boss Michael Silverton banked $11.65m pay packet, little changed, while Greg Ward, Macquarie’s Banking and Financial Services boss, earned $11.6m, also little changed.

The Macquarie boss said the financial giant was delivering “patient adjacent growth across new products and new markets; ongoing investment in our operating platform; a strong and conservative balance sheet; and a proven risk management framework and culture”.

However, Macquarie is also facing regulatory pressures, after the Australian Securities & Investments Commission hit the bank with remediation and compliance orders on Wednesday.

The Joe Longo-led ASIC warned Macquarie had concerning risk and compliance failures. Photograph by Paul Jeffers

Fitch Ratings warned this could pressure Macquarie’s credit rating if investigations discover “widespread weaknesses in MBL’s risk controls”.

In his letter to shareholders, Macquarie chair Glenn Stevens noted risks remain, pointing to concerns around price stability and tariffs, and cautioning global trade faced its “most

intense pressure for decades”.

Net operating income was up 2 per cent to $17.2bn, while expenses were “in line” with last year at $12.1bn after a five per cent fall in staff numbers to 19,735.

The banking business drove $1.38bn of Macquarie’s profit, up 11 per cent.

Commodities and Global Markets represented $2.82bn of profit, down 12 per cent, as clients pulled back amid subdued conditions in gas, power, and oil markets.

Macquarie Capital made a $1bn contribution, in line with the group’s result last year, with higher advisory and broker fees offset by lower income driven by impairment reversals and higher funding costs.

Macquarie said it would continue its share buy back, extended by 12 months in November, with only $1.01bn of the $2bn budget spent.

The group declared a $3.90 dividend, 35 per cent franked, taking total returns to $6.50 for the year.

Macquarie said it would “maintain a cautious stance, with a conservative approach to capital, funding and liquidity” in its outlook.

Shares in Macquarie last traded at $195.89.