, Columnist
Nomura’s Still Bloated. It’s Time to Cut Deep
Japan’s biggest brokerage needs to scale back more aggressively in Europe and focus on trading.
Feel the gloom.
Photographer: Akio Kon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Japanese companies, after years in the low-growth doghouse, have gained a reputation for being ambitious acquirers. Nomura Holdings Inc. should be equally aggressive — in scaling back.
The nation’s largest brokerage posted its second consecutive quarter of losses on Thursday, dragged down by lower fixed-income trading overseas and a slump in stock trading at home. An 81.4 billion yen ($749 million) goodwill impairment charge in its wholesale business — largely overseas investment banking and markets operations — added to the gloom.