Shares in Macquarie were 1.2 per cent at $185.90 in afternoon trade.

Wikramanayake said Macquarie’s commodities and global markets business – which benefited from a surge in North American gas and power prices last year – would likely perform more in line with its 2022 financial year results because of more stable commodity prices.

While Wikramanayake said the company had made lower fee and commission income and had the worst fundraising year for private markets in 15 years in what has been “a very challenging market,” she said higher investment income, especially in private credit, helped offset some of Macquarie’s profit fall and was expected to remain strong.

“We’re seeing a lot of private credit transactions happen,” she said, with the bulk of growth coming from industrial companies that were typically safer with higher cash flow.

Macquarie’s banking arm, which has grown aggressively in the home loan market over the past few years, experienced some pressure on its profit margins in line with the broader banking industry, but continued to grow robustly in all areas except car loans.

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Macquarie head of banking and financial services Greg Ward said he saw an opportunity to “dramatically increase” the bank’s market share in its target segments, including high net-worth clients, while continuing to pursue its strategy. “We haven’t been a price leader, we haven’t cut corners, and we haven’t had to go down the credit curve to drive that growth,” he said.

Looking ahead, Macquarie said it saw a number of immediate-term opportunities centred around the energy transition and biofuels in Asian economies including Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and India.

On Tuesday, Macquarie also announced the exit of its highest-paid banker, Nicholas O’Kane, from February 27.

“It’s been an incredible journey,” Wikramanayake said. “[O’Kane] has made a massive contribution and impact. How [the commodities and global markets divisions] are positioned gives him comfort to take this step, which he told the team he is doing for a range of personal reasons.”

Macquarie head of commodities and global markets group’s financial markets division, Simon Wright, will step up to the position.

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