(Corrects headline and paragraph 3 to clarify highest profit for a first quarter since 2020.)
By Anton Bridge
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Nomura Holdings said first-quarter profit surged 52% with its trading and investment banking divisions putting in a solid showing amid volatile global markets, while it also benefited from a one-off gain on a property sale.
The results follow Nomura’s highest-ever annual profit in the year ended March 2025 and underscore some progress in its efforts to become a global financial player.
The country’s top investment bank and brokerage booked a net profit of 104.6 billion yen ($705 million) in April-June, its highest first-quarter profit since 2020.
The sale of a Tokyo property belonging to a subsidiary generated 56 billion yen in pretax net income.
Nomura’s global markets division recorded 7% revenue growth as volatility triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on trading partners in April boosted demand for macro and spread fixed-income products.
“In markets, the fog has cleared somewhat, which is reflected in favourable current trading conditions, so we’re expecting good results in the future,” Chief Financial Officer Hiroyuki Moriuchi told a press briefing.
Nomura’s investment banking business saw revenue climb 2%, benefiting as NTT and Toyota group firms went private.
It has had some success in raising its global profile, ranking 11th in worldwide M&A advisory fees in the first six months of 2025, up from 35th in the same period a year earlier, LSEG data shows.
Nomura has expanded its wealth and asset management businesses as a means of generating stable income that is less subject to market volatility after years of choppy returns.
Assets under management in its asset management division reached a record high of 94.3 trillion yen, up from 89.3 trillion yen at the end of March, helped by a shift by Japanese households from savings to investment.
In April, Nomura stepped up its global ambitions by acquiring Macquarie Group’s U.S. and European public asset management businesses for $1.8 billion, its largest-ever acquisition.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Previous attempts at overseas expansion fared poorly. Nomura’s acquisition of assets from the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 later had to be written down.
($1 = 148.22 yen)
(Reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kim Coghill and Edwina Gibbs)
