(Bloomberg) -- Macquarie Group Ltd. is readying itself for an uncertain future with a potential reduction in the volatility that helped the Australian investment bank and asset manager post record profit.

Although Chief Executive Officer Shemara Wikramanayake refused to be drawn on when volatility in the commodities sector may end, she’s relying on the firm’s long-proven ability to navigate vastly different economic cycles.

“I’d say its hard to call and we tend not to base our business on those macro calls,” Wikramanayake said of ongoing volatility in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday. “What we try to do is to position ourselves to be deeply present and capable in markets and to step up to service customers, whether there’s scarcity or oversupply. We are more exposed to levels of activity than whether they’re in one direction or another.”

The Sydney-based bank has “a very uncertain year ahead,” she told a briefing earlier Friday after reporting earnings that topped analyst estimates. She expects commodities income -- a part of the bank’s commodities and global markets unit -- to be “significantly down” following the strong result, but noted volatility could create more opportunities.

“That would be subject to volatility as well, because that’s something that we can’t predict,” Wikramanayake said.

Macquarie shares ended down 7.8% in Sydney trading Friday, the largest decline since March 2020. The record year for the 2022 financial year “may be tough to beat next year,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matt Ingram.

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