Macquarie Group continues its tech spend in the medium term, while working to identify cost saving initiatives.

Macquarie Group’s Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO and managing director, expressed optimism at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday that it can achieve ‘excellent performance’ in its medium-term perspective.

Wikramanayake says that despite market conditions “softening” during the quarter, favourable trading conditions were responsible for Macquarie’s operating groups generating a net profit contribution, up from the first quarter of the 2022 financial year.

Macquarie’s “highly client focused digital banking offering” and the “annuity model businesses” of banking and financial services are “producing very good amounts of business,” according to Wikramanayake.

Its BFS business is showing a medium-term prognosis that technology will continue to be modernised in order to enhance the client experience and enable growth.

Meanwhile, Matt Ellis recently became Macquarie’s new global head of engineering after taking up the new leadership position. Ellis gravitated towards a career in IT thanks to a childhood interest in tinkering with computers.

Macquarie Group recorded a 56% increase in first-quarter profit to $4.7 billion in its update for fiscal year 2023.

Macquarie’s operating groups contributed to a net profit in the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, despite market conditions “weakening.” Wikramanayake said favourable trading conditions were responsible