Nomura net profit leaps as retail income surges

By Anton Bridge

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nomura Holdings, Japan's biggest brokerage and investment bank, reported on Friday a 670% jump in quarterly net profit compared to a year earlier as its retail and investment banking income rose to their highest levels in eight years.

January-March net profit was 56.8 billion yen ($363.87 million) compared to 7.3 billion yen a year earlier when worries about a global banking crisis engulfed global markets and hit Nomura's investment banking business.

The results show Nomura's continued recovery after it was forced to slash its profit targets for its three core businesses - retail, wholesale and investment management - last May after the market turmoil.

Nomura's wholesale business, which houses its investment banking and trading arms, had recorded losses in the two quarters to March 2023.

"Our recent results show strong momentum," chief financial officer (CFO) Takumi Kitamura told a press briefing in Tokyo.

The brokerage's full year net profit rose 79% year on year, beating the average estimate of 6 analysts polled by LSEG of 75%.

Nomura has sought to expand its wealth management business to secure more consistent revenue that is less subject to market swings.

Nevertheless Nomura benefited from the Japanese stock market's rally between January and March that pushed the Nikkei 225 index to a record high. Its retail income grew a further 21% on the October-December quarter, which itself was the highest in eight years.

Investment banking revenue from both domestic and international deals rose to the highest since the 2016/17 financial year - the earliest for which comparisons are available - despite a decline in global fee pools.

Assets under management in Nomura's investment management business rose to a record high of 89 trillion yen ($567.96 billion) and was growing at a faster rate than expected, CFO Kitamura said, before adding there was further room to grow.

Nomura's annual pre-tax income of 236.8 billion yen for its three core divisions remains below its target for the fiscal year ending in March 2025 of 288 billion yen, although Kitamura said momentum was growing in each division and its domestic and international arms had performed well.

($1 = 156.7000 yen) (This story has been corrected to say retail income, not revenue, grew by 21% compared to the previous quarter in paragraph 8)

(Reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Kim Coghill)