Nomura raises top executives' pay to highest in over a decade
Nomura Holdings has increased pay for its top executives to the highest in more than a decade, as Japan's biggest brokerage posted a record annual profit on the back of the nation's retail investment boom.
Compensation paid in the year that ended in March to the company's seven executive officers totaled ¥4.6 billion ($32 million), up 3% from the previous year when there were eight such officers, according to a notice for a planned annual shareholders meeting next month. On average their pay rose 18%.
CEO Kentaro Okuda is among the executive officers along with Christopher Willcox, who oversees investment banking and securities trading. The raise came even after some executives, including Okuda, took voluntary pay cuts for a pair of scandals that surfaced in the period.
The Tokyo-based firm earned a record ¥340.7 billion profit last fiscal year as the return of inflation to Asia's second-largest economy energized investors. Pretax income at Willcox's wholesale division hit a 15-year high as global securities trading rebounded and cost controls improved. Dealmaking got a boost from Japan's corporate governance overhaul.
Cash bonuses for the executive officers rose 88% to ¥2.3 billion, while base salaries grew slightly to ¥607 million. Compensation includes stock awards as well.
Nomura is in expansion mode, having recently clinched a deal to buy Macquarie Group's U.S. and European public asset management business. The brokerage is also weighing a return to offering cash prime-brokerage services in the U.S. and Europe — businesses it largely exited four years ago when it lost $2.9 billion tied to the collapse of Archegos Capital Management.
Last year's results were blemished by revelations of bond market manipulation and charges of attempted murder against a former employee. CEO Okuda and other executives volunteered to return a portion of their pay for several months following the incidents.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan's firms see business climate worsen amid U.S. tariff hits
Japan's largest businesses turned pessimistic for the first time in more than a year as U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs upended key sectors, a development that could complicate the Bank of Japan's policy path. The Business Sentiment Index for large firms registered minus 1.9 for the April-June quarter, slipping into negative territory for the first time since the first quarter of 2024, according to a Finance Ministry survey released Thursday. A negative figure indicates that more companies reported deteriorating conditions than those that saw improvements. Among large manufacturers, sentiment dropped to minus 4.8, also the weakest in five quarters, driven by sharp declines in the automotive, auto parts and steel industries. Nonmanufacturers posted a reading of minus 0.5, turning negative for the first time since the third quarter of 2022, with the retail and telecommunications sectors weighing on the gauge. Thursday's data underscore growing anxiety among Japanese firms amid prolonged uncertainty over U.S. trade policies. Trump initially slapped 25% duties on steel and aluminum in March before recently hiking that rate to 50%. Autos became subject to 25% duties from April, and all other products were simultaneously hit with a 10% levy across the board, a rate that will revert to 24% for Japanese goods in early July, barring a trade deal. The data showed that industries most exposed to the elevated U.S. duties have seen particularly steep drops in sentiment. Automakers and parts suppliers reported a plunge to minus 16.1 from 8.8 in the previous quarter, while steelmakers' sentiment tumbled to minus 29.1 from 0. The bleak readings are likely to inject a degree of caution into central bank policy deliberations even after Gov. Kazuo Ueda reiterated his position earlier this week that rate hikes will proceed if and when conditions allow. The bank's policy board is widely expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady when it next sets policy on June 17, with focus falling on updated plans for government bond purchases. The figures largely align with the government's latest economic view. Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa warned on Wednesday of rising downside risks to Japan's economy stemming from U.S. trade measures. Akazawa is expected to depart for Washington later this week for his sixth round of trade negotiations with U.S. counterparts.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Couche-Tard sees ‘clear path' to Seven & I deal with U.S. stores divestment
Alimentation Couche-Tard says several potential buyers have made proposals to acquire its convenience stores in the U.S. that overlap with Seven & I Holdings, showing progress toward a deal that could help the Canadian retailer win regulatory approval for its proposal to buy its Japanese rival. The two agreed earlier this year to discuss the potential divestment of more than 2,000 stores in the U.S. and seek out interested parties in order to address concerns by Seven & I over a merger being blocked by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Couche-Tard also pushed back against any parallels to a failed $24.6 billion merger of grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons. Seven & I, which operates 7-Eleven, Speedway and Sunoco stores, has pushed back against Couche-Tard's unsolicited ¥7.39 trillion ($51.3 billion) takeover proposal and is overhauling its business under new Chief Executive Officer Stephen Dacus to raise its value. Despite the resistance, Couche-Tard, the parent company of Circle K, has advanced discussions by securing a non-disclosure agreement two months ago to gain access to financial information and potentially raise its bid. "We have received multiple indicative proposals from highly experienced and credible buyers,' Couche-Tard said on a website it set up to explain its proposal to buy Seven & I. "We believe the actionable, strong and broad level of interest so far clearly demonstrates that we have several clear paths to consummate the required divestitures and complete the transaction.' Several private equity firms have shown strong interest in buying the assets, Filipe Da Silva, Couche-Tard's chief financial officer, said in March. Couche-Tard also addressed some concerns over a potential merger by highlighting the differences between its proposal and the scuppered combination of Kroger and Albertsons. The FTC blocked the deal on antitrust grounds last year, saying that the divestiture plan was insufficient; Seven & I cited this as a high-risk factor for getting a deal with Couche-Tard approved. "The convenience store industry in the U.S. is highly fragmented and competitive,' Couche-Tard said. "The combination of Couche-Tard and Seven & i results in a business with less than 13% of U.S. convenience stores.' The Canadian retailer also reiterated that it has put "forth a compelling reverse termination fee' in the event of a transaction not going through.
Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
Jera touts 20-year LNG agreements with U.S. suppliers
Jera, Japan's largest power generation company, has reached agreements to buy as much as 5.5 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas from U.S. suppliers. The 20-year deals include purchases by Jera from NextDecade and Commonweath LNG, CEO Yukio Kani said in an interview. The company has also entered into nonbinding agreements with Sempra Infrastructure and Cheniere Marketing. The agreements bolster Japan's role as the world's second-largest LNG importer, and come as U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to expand exports of the fuel. Tokyo is locked in trade negotiations with Washington, and has been trying to leverage its large purchases of American energy to reduce tariffs. While Japan is working on increasing renewable energy and restarting nuclear power, "LNG is a key energy source from a security point of view,' Kani said. Japan's government sees the AI boom potentially lifting power demand over the next decade, and has urged the nation's private utilities to secure more LNG supplies. All of the contracts announced by Jera have flexible delivery terms, which means shipments can be sent elsewhere if Japanese demand weakens. Jera has been developing its LNG trading capabilities over the last decade, and often resells its supply to Europe or other Asian buyers.
