Sweet start for Macquarie

Macquarie Group may be enjoying a decent start to its financial year, with contributions from most businesses during the June 2015 quarter "up significantly … and broadly in line with the prior quarter," the financier said ahead of its annual meeting in Sydney yesterday.

It said the group's "result for FY16 is currently expected to be up on FY15."

The lower exchange rate for the Australian dollar is one driver across the group, while business volumes are also up.

Macquarie put its capital surplus at A$2.4 billion at the end of the quarter, down from $2.7 billion at March 2015.

The APRA Basel III Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio for Macquarie Bank was 9.9 per cent at 30 June 2015, which was up from 9.7 per cent at 31 March 2015.

It said APRA's planned changes on capital needed for its home loan portfolio would chew up approximately $150 million, "equivalent to a 20 basis point reduction in the Bank Group's CET1 ratio."

"This increased capital requirement will be accommodated from the existing capital surplus and retained earnings," it said.