(27 April 2009 – Japan) Japanese bank, Nomura Holdings, has recorded a massive Y709.4 billion (A$10.2 billion) loss, due mainly to one-off costs and write downs from a tough 2008.Net revenue fell by 60.3 percent to Y312.6 billion, leading to a yearly loss that was more than ten times the amount of Y67.8 billion recorded for the year ended March 31, 2008.
The full year loss by Nomura, the bank said in a statement, was mainly attributable to one off trading losses of Y150 billion, write downs of the same amount in Merchant Banking and real estate, as well as one off expenses of Y250 billion relating to the Lehman acquisition and other impairment charges.
Nomura predicts that the purging of these expenses in the one year and therefore reduction of exposures will help the bank return to profit in 2009.
Nomura CEO, Kenichi Watanabe said that the bank is now focused on returning to profitability by leveraging its newly enhanced global franchise, formed after acquiring the Lehman businesses in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Despite being under no requirements to do so, Nomura confirmed that it had adopted the Basel II capital adequacy standards, strengthening its capital base throughout the year and increasing its tier one ratio to 11.3 percent.
A comparison by the firm revealed a strong tier one ratio in comparison to the world’s major banks. The ratio for Nomura is higher than JPMorgan, Barclays and Bank of America, equal to Citi, but below Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.