£265m pleaser at Macquarie

ONE-time London Stock Exchange suitor Macquarie Group has cheered investors with a smaller-than-expected drop in half-yearly profit.

Net earnings at the Australian financier fell 43% to A$604 million (£265.7 million) for the six months to September, against analysts' forecasts of A$592.4 million.

Chief executive Nicholas Moore said he expected second-half profit to be "broadly in line with the first-half". Macquarie, Australia's biggest securities firm, sidestepped most of the subprime mortgage exposure but has been hit by the slump in equities markets.

Writedowns and one-off costs totalled A$1.14 billion in the first half, cutting profit by A$395 million.

Moore forecast further writedowns of A$400 million on listed funds. The firm also wrote off A$684 million as the value of assets held by its investment funds tumbled. Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group contributed A$102 million to the writedowns as its stock lost 82% this year.