Japan’s top brokerage firm Nomura Holdings Inc is likely to log a record net loss of ¥700 billion (US$7.1 billion) in the year to last month, a report said yesterday.
The loss stemmed partly from evaluation losses on commercial real estate, loans and shareholdings, as well as write-downs on inventories of securities for sale to investors, the Nikkei Shimbun said.
HIGHER LABOR COSTS
The group’s labor costs also increased after it bought major chunks of fallen Wall Street titan Lehman Brothers, the paper said.
Nomura did not confirm the report, saying it would announce results today for the fourth quarter as well as the full year to last month.
Eyeing a global presence, Nomura last year snapped up Lehman’s operations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East after the Wall Street investment bank became the most visible corporate casualty of the financial crisis.
Nomura incurred a net loss of ¥342.9 billion in the third quarter to December because of the impact of the financial crisis and the cost of buying the Lehman Brothers units.
MIZUHO
Meanwhile, Japan’s second-largest bank, Mizuho Financial Group Inc, said yesterday it had suffered an estimated net loss of ¥580 billion (US$5.9 billion) in the financial year to last month.
Mizuho, which made a net profit of ¥311.2 billion in the previous year, has been badly hit by the global financial crisis and losses on toxic mortgage-backed securities.
The group missed its forecast for a ¥100 billion profit last year, blaming increased losses related to weak financial markets as well as the impact of low interest rates and rising bad loan costs.
The bank said it would book a loss of ¥618.8 billion on securities, including stocks and bonds. Mizuho is expected to release its final results next month.
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