Australia's largest investment bank, Macquarie Group Ltd has said that the it has reported an increase of 18 per cent in profits during the first six months of the year compared to same month of the previous year.

The increase in profit was mainly due to higher income from its trading and funds businesses. Macquarie said that its net profit in the six months rose to A$361 million, compared to A$305 million recorded in the same period of the previous year.

The profit at the bank's fixed income, currency and commodity trading unit increased to A$219 million during the first half compared to A$6 million in the same period of the earlier year. The total commodities trading increased 21 percent during the period mainly due to strong performance by energy and agricultural products, according to Chief Financial Officer Patrick Upfold.

The shares of the only listed investment bank in Australia increased 3.5 percent to A$30.85 in Sydney after the results were announced. The shares have risen by an impressive 30 percent this year, which is much higher than 10 percent advance of the S&P/ASX 200 Index.

The bank had acquired A$251 million of its own stock under a A$500 million buyback program. It paid an average of A$25.58 for the shares.