TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc
(8604.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said it would aim to more than double annual revenue
in Asian markets outside Japan to 100 billion yen ($925
million) in five years as it plays catch-up with Western banks
strong in the region.
Japan’s largest brokerage and investment bank has been slow
to tap demand in China and other fast-growing Asian markets,
booking only 24.9 billion yen in net revenues in the region in
the business year that ended in March 2007.
That accounted for just 2 percent of Nomura’s overall net
revenue and pales in comparison to the money being pulled in by
Western banks such as UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), Goldman Sachs Group
(GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research).
UBS, for example, ranked first with $905 million in
investment banking fees last year in the Asia Pacific region
excluding Japan, according to data from Thomson Financial.
Nomura ranked 34th with a little under $38 million in fees.
“The reality is that we have not reached the level of the
major Western investment banks. And from that perspective we
face a long road ahead,” said Yoshinori Go, head of marketing
for the Asia region, at a briefing for media and analysts.
Go said Nomura wanted to raise net revenue from Asia
excluding Japan to 100 billion yen in the next five years. It
booked revenue of 22.8 billion yen in the April-September first
half of this business year, and Go said it was unclear if the
broker would be able to match that figure in the second half.
