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Nick O’Kane has been the highest-paid senior executive at Macquarie for several years in a row.Credit:Annie Mulligan

The pay packet,which is mainly composed of his profit share,compares with $32.8 million in awarded pay for chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake.

It is believed to be one of the highest incentive payments disclosed by an Australian-listed company,though it is not as high as the $264 million that Afterpay foundersNick Molnar and Anthony Eisen made on the different metric of “realised pay” in 2021.

The hefty pay packet came after the division led by O’Kane drove Macquarie’s full-year earnings 10 per cent higher to $5.2 billion in the year to March,as the division benefited from volatility on commodity markets.

Wikramanayake on Friday played down analyst doubts over whether the investment group could continue churning out record profits,after the bonanza in this division more than offset softer results in other parts of Macquarie.

Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake said the diversified nature of the company would continue to support its performance over the medium term.Credit:Natalie Boog

While some analysts questioned the heavy reliance on the volatile commodities and markets business,Wikramanayake said Macquarie was focused on growing the underlying businesses that make up the group.

She pointed out its total profits had grown steadily from $2.7 billion in 2020 to more than $5 billion in its latest financial year,and argued there was still room for growth in its key business units.

“We may have … increased earnings from the market-facing aspect of businesses from time to time,but our focus is on the underlying growth of the franchises,” Wikramanayake said.

“The franchises have a long way to go with growth,so I don’t think we’re at a point where we say let’s shut up shop and there’s nothing left to do.”

‘The model here is that the people who generate the return share with the shareholders in that return. That model has worked very well for the company.’
Glenn Stevens,Macquarie chair

For example,she said Macquarie had taken about 10 years to grab market share of roughly 5 per cent in domestic mortgages,but it was “a fraction of the size of the majors still,and there’s no reason that run rate won’t continue”.

The division led by O’Kane reported a 54 per cent surge in “net profit contribution” of $6 billion – more than the entire group’s total profits – which Macquarie said was helped by volatility on commodity markets.

There was a 23 per cent decline in profit contribution from its asset management business;a 47 per cent decline in investment-banking unit Macquarie Capital;and a 20 per cent increase in its banking and financial services division.

Macquarie’s profit-share model for remuneration has produced some bumper pay packets over the years,and chair Glenn Stevens on Friday said it remained committed to this approach,which it had used since inception. He said this had been an “exceptional year”.

“The model here is that the people who generate the return share with the shareholders in that return. That model has worked very well for the company,” Stevens said.

Macquarie raised its final dividend to $4.50 a share,up from $3.50 last year,and it will pay the dividend on July 4.

Macquarie shares dipped 0.6 per cent to $176.75.

Citi analyst Brendan Sproules said the earnings in some of the bank’s key divisions were weaker than expected,and said the market would question the reliance on the commodities and global markets business to drive profit.

UBS analyst John Storey also described the commodities and global markets business as “the standout”,but said there were “question marks” on the sustainability of such earnings.

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