Macquarie in first annual profit fall for 17 yrs

SYDNEY, May 1 (Reuters) - Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AX), Australia's biggest investment bank, reported its first fall in full-year profit in 17 years on Friday, hurt by A$2.5 billion ($1.84 billion) of asset writedowns.

But there was no news of a capital raising, despite the bank telling the market on Thursday night that it might do so. [ID:nSYD420194]

Net profit in the year ended March 31 dropped 52 percent to A$871 million from A$1.803 billion one year ago, in line with an average estimate from seven analysts of A$868 million.

The group had warned in February its full-year profit would halve to about A$900 million as it faced tough markets in which deals dried up and borrowing costs rose.

Macquarie's shares were placed on trading halt on Thursday, after it said it was contemplating raising capital, only two months after saying it had no current plans to raise funds because it had A$2.9 billion ($2.14 billion) in excess capital. (Reporting by Mette Fraende; Editing by Mark Bendeich)