Nomura Holdings Inc. is aiming for an additional $100 million in cost reductions in its wholesale banking division, as Japan’s largest brokerage seeks to lift its performance.
The progress of this key division towards its earnings targets is “significantly behind,” according to Chief Executive Officer Kentaro Okuda in a presentation for institutional investors at the firm’s annual investment forum. The international business is slow there, though it’s held up by robust performance in Japan, he said.
Okuda is trying to revitalize the company after profit fell in his first three years in office, weighed by overseas losses. The company has taken a slew of steps to improve results abroad, from expanding in the $1.6 trillion global private lending market to hiring traders in the Middle East while cutting jobs in China.
The move follows the announcement half a year ago of cost reduction and broad business reviews as Okuda seeks to achieve return of equity of 8% to 10%, a key profit measure that fell last year to less than half those levels.
Nomura in May cut its combined pretax profit goal for the retail, wholesale and investment management divisions to 288 billion yen ($1.96 billion) for the year ending March 2025, from the previous target of as much as 390 billion yen, pointing to a changing macroeconomic environment.
The wholesale division is now aiming to earn 130 billion yen, from 160-180 billion yen previously. The division generates roughly half of the company’s overall revenue and houses market traders, investment bankers and international wealth managers.
--With assistance from Patrick Winters.
