By Anton Bridge
TOKYO, April 24 (Reuters) – Nomura, Japan’s largest investment bank and brokerage, on Friday reported a record annual profit for the second year in a row and said the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has not disrupted structural growth factors in its home market.
The firm has been engaged in a multi-year effort to focus on stable fee-based revenues that are less vulnerable to fluctuating market conditions.
“Markets have been favourable up to now, but there are various risk factors at present,” Chief Financial Officer Hiroyuki Moriuchi said at a briefing.
“For M&A and equity capital markets, some decision making may be held up, but looking at the mid- to long-term, the structural challenges facing Japanese companies, such as a declining population and overseas expansion aims, are unaffected by the situation in the Middle East.”
Nomura’s net income for the January-to-March quarter rose 3% from a year earlier to 73.9 billion yen ($462.60 million). Full-year income rose to 362.1 billion yen from 340.7 billion yen a year earlier.
Nomura commands a dominant position in Japan’s wealth management market with a strong base of recurring fee revenues. It also benefitted from the flow fees generated by market volatility over the quarter.
The wholesale division, which includes Nomura’s investment banking and trading arms, booked its highest annual revenue since it was established in April 2010.
($1 = 159.7500 yen)
(Reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Thomas Derpinghaus)
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