Nomura's second-quarter profit rises 13%

TOKYO, Oct 28 : Japan's largest brokerage and investment bank Nomura Holdings posted a 13 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit to 103.7 billion yen ($656.7 million), driven by steady growth in wealth management.

Nomura's wholesale division also kept up its strong run and grew income by 47 per cent year on year, boosted by equity trading and investment banking.

The investment bank topped both equity capital markets and debt capital markets league tables in Japan over the six months to the end of September, with revenue buoyed by the take-private of Dentsu Research Institute and SoftBank Group's record 1 trillion yen retail bond issuance.

While favourable market conditions have lifted profits over the past year, Nomura's wealth management division continued to grow as Japanese households steadily move away from cash and deposits toward higher-yielding investments.

Nomura has sought for some years to develop steady sources of revenue that are less impacted by market volatility.

($1 = 157.9100 yen)