Macquarie Group half-year profit misses estimate, extends buyback

(Reuters) – Macquarie on Friday posted half-year profit below estimates, as its wealth management arm faces sluggish deal activity and a lack of asset realisations.

The Australian financial conglomerate’s profit attributable for the six months ended Sept. 30 came in at A$1.61 billion ($1.06 billion), missing a consensus estimate of A$1.73 billion, according to Visible Alpha.

The firm had recorded a profit attributable of A$1.42 billion last year.

Macquarie declared an interim dividend of A$2.60 apiece.

It also approved extending its ongoing A$2 billion buyback for a further period of 12 months.

($1 = 1.5198 Australian dollars)