Volatile Market Becomes a Money Tree for Nomura Holdings (NMR.US) as First-Quarter Net Profit Soars 52%

We have learned from sources that, despite the global market volatility escalating, Nomura Holdings' (NMR.US) first-quarter net profit soared 52% thanks to strong performance in trading and investment businesses. This Japanese largest investment bank and securities firm achieved a net profit of ¥1046 billion (approximately $7.057 billion) for the April-June period, a significant increase from ¥689 billion in the same period last year.

This record-breaking performance continues the company's historical highest annual profits set as of March 2025, further solidifying its leading position in the Japanese market and advancing its strategy to become a global financial giant over several years.

The global markets were affected by the US President Trump's announcement in April to impose tariffs, resulting in Nomura's global markets division revenue growing 7%, with macro and yield products experiencing increased demand.

Despite the global M&A transactions being blocked this quarter due to uncertainty over tariffs, Nomura still benefited from large-scale domestic transactions such as private equity deals of NTT and Toyota Motor's subsidiaries.

LSEG data shows that in the first half of 2025, Nomura's global M&A consulting fees ranked 11th.

To counterbalance its years-long performance fluctuations, Nomura has continued to expand its wealth and asset management businesses to secure a more stable source of income. Leveraging Japan's trend of households shifting from savings to investments, the company has become Japan's top wealth management institution, with this department contributing nearly 40% of pre-tax profits in the same period.

In the same quarter, Nomura's asset management scale reached a historic high of ¥94.3 trillion.

Nomura also generated ¥560 billion in pre-tax earnings through its subsidiary's sale of Tokyo real estate projects this quarter.

In April this year, Nomura Securities announced the acquisition of McGraw Hill's asset management business, adding approximately $18 billion in client assets. This Japanese company has faced numerous challenges in its overseas expansion attempts, including the acquisition of Lehman Brothers' assets in 2008, which was later written off.