Japan's largest brokerage and investment bank, Nomura Holdings Inc, saw its first-quarter profit jump as higher Japanese stock prices helped attract more money from global investors.
Strong gains in the Japanese stock market, fueled by hopes of an end to deflation and better use of corporate capital, boosted Nomura's assets under management and retail client assets to record highs.
"We benefited from positive market conditions," said CFO Takumi Kitamura.
Nomura's April to June profit was 23.33 billion yen ($163 million), compared to 1.696 billion yen a year earlier. However, this represents only a fraction of Nomura's goal to achieve 288 billion yen in core pretax income by March 2025.
While the retail business posted strong gains, Nomura's wholesale division saw profit of just 2.1 billion yen, down sharply from 25.3 billion yen a year earlier. Fixed income trading slowed amid lower market volatility.
The investment banking business showed signs of recovery with some major deals, though Kitamura said Nomura was on track to cut 50 billion yen in costs by March 2025. He also said the Bank of Japan's recent bond yield relaxation could be "a major tailwind" by increasing market volatility.
