Nomura sees markets business fall 10%

Difficult quarter sees equities and fixed income revenues down.

Nomura’s markets business saw sales drop 10% in the three months to end of June 2017 due to difficult conditions in Japan and the Americas.

Total revenues in the global markets business for the first quarter of Nomura’s financial year reached 154.2 billion yen ($1.4 billion), down 10% compared to the 170.5 billion yen seen a year ago.

Fixed income was particularly badly affected, in line with similar trends at other banks, with year-on-year revenue down 11%. Equities revenue also fell, down 6%. However, both fixed income and equities activity did increase compared to the previous quarter, up 11% and 3% respectively.

Investment banking activity fared better, increasing its year-on-year sales by 23% to 25.1 billion yen ($227 million).

A number of debt capital markets mandates helped the firm’s investment banking results, as did several major IPOs in Japan. It also saw more M&A activity and has increased its focus on international business, with international gross revenue up 40% year-on-year, accounting for around 50% of its current investment banking revenue.

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