* Q3 pretax profit for wholesale business 76.9 bln yen
* Narrow wholesale section after refurbishment
* To meet cost cutting target one year ahead of plan (Add CFO comments, details)
TOKYO, Feb. 3 (Reuters) – Nomura Holdings Inc has shown confidence in maintaining high profit margins after Japan’s largest investment and investment bank reported best third-quarter profit in 15 years on hard global markets and investment banking.
“We have reduced focus areas and expanded our market share in these areas,” Chief Finance Officer Takumi Kitamura said at a preparatory meeting on Wednesday.
After reducing its balance sheet, “we are confident that profits are now much more stable. ”
Kitamura also said the bank is likely to meet its 140 billion yen ($ 1.33 billion) cost-cutting target by March, a year ahead of a plan outlined two years ago.
October-December net profit jumped 72% from a year earlier to 98.4 billion yen ($ 937 million), the third-highest quarter profit since 2005.
Nomura’s wholesale business unit has recently emerged as a major profit driver following a two-year renewal that brought in $ 1 billion in cost cuts and recaptured some of its lower-growth business. .
The sector, which is made up of global markets and investment banking arms, posted a pretax profit of 76.9 billion yen, up 78%.
Like their Western counterparts, Nomura experienced a jump in trading markets stemming from the high volatility that caused uncertainty surrounding U.S. elections and the release of coronavirus vaccines.
Its investment banking business has benefited from a grain of unions and acquisitions, as well as emergency corporate fundraising by Japanese companies, including major airline ANA Holdings.
A strong wholesale industry is going well for Nomura’s ambition to become a global investment bank, as the bank remains a fairly large international player, competing with US and European competitors. is much larger and deeper.
They are also looking to rebuild its wealth management business in the rest of Asia and the Middle East.
The bank’s sales division, which mainly serves individual investors, raised 28.3 billion yen in pretax revenue, up from 17.6 billion, thanks to improved investor sentiment .
$ 1 = 105.0600 yen Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; edited by Stephen Coates and Jason Neely