Macquarie in fund raising
MACQUARIE Group has raised A$1.2bn (£593m) from shareholders, in another boost for the Australian investment bank, which has seen the price of its stock double in the past three months.
The cash injection means Macquarie now holds $4.3bn more than the minimum capital requirement imposed by regulators.
Its shares have risen from a 10-year-low of $15.75 in March to above $37 this week.
As well as the $540m raised in an under-written institutional offer, Macquarie said it had raised $669m from retail shareholders, more than three times the amount expected by the market.
The bank has seen renewed confidence despite reporting its first decline in earnings in 17 years earlier this month, with net profits falling to A$871m for 2008-09 from a record A$1.8bn in the year earlier. The drop was partially due to $2.5bn of asset writedowns.
Macquarie has fared better than some of its peers recently because it steered clear of the US subprime mortgage market.
Chief executive Nicholas Moore says the company is now poised to make further acquisitions, as current prices had become more attractive.