Macquarie’s profit jumps: Midday roundup

Macquarie Group is still on track for an improved annual result in the 2013 financial year after posting a jump in net profit during the first half of the year.

In the six months to September 30, Macquarie posted a net profit of $361 million, an 18% rise on the previous corresponding period.

Organics now a $1.27 billion industry in Australia

The organics produce sector is one of Australia’s top five growth industries, according to the biennial Australian Organic Market Report published today.

The report found more than one in 20 people are regular shoppers of organic products and almost two in three have bought organic in the past year.

Organics is worth $1.27 billion to Australia and is predicted to grow by up to 15% each year, exceeding global growth trends, which are 2-11%.

Yahoo! makes first acquisition under Marissa Meyer

Yahoo! has bought a mobile start-up company in New York. It is new chief executive Marissa Mayer’s first acquisition.

Yahoo! has purchased Stamped, which makes a product that lets consumers share favourite restaurants and music on their smartphones.

Yahoo! did not reveal how much it paid.

The Stamped co-founders wrote in a blog on their website that Yahoo! would discontinue the Stamped product by the end of the year and that the Stamped team would be working on something “big, mobile and new.”

Sharemarket flat

The Australian stock market is flat this morning after European stocks closed mixed and Wall Street made modest gains following better-than-expected jobless claims.

At the market opening the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index inched higher 0.12 % to 4515.8 points while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 0.09% to 4537.8 points.