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Business Times
7 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Nomura to shut branch in China as it scales back wealth business
[TOKYO] Nomura Holdings is closing one of its four branches in China, as the Japanese securities firm scales back its wealth management business in the mainland after years of losses. The company's brokerage subsidiary plans to shut its branch in Zhejiang province by the end of the year, sources familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. A Tokyo-based spokesperson declined to comment. The closure comes four years after Nomura announced the opening of the office in late 2021, when it was pushing to expand in areas that are home to rich Chinese. Japan's biggest brokerage had targeted wealth management as a key area for growth in China, but the business has struggled under President Xi Jinping's 'common prosperity' drive, a slowing economy and stiff competition. Shanghai-based Nomura Orient International Securities has posted losses every year since it was formed in 2019. The venture's loss narrowed 30 per cent to 128.7 million yuan (S$23 million) in the year ended Dec 31, making the second straight year of improvement. Nomura has been curtailing its original focus on China wealth to prioritise an expansion in brokerage and asset management, Bloomberg reported in April. Global banks have also been tempering their ambitions in China's US$69 trillion financial services industry, five years after its opening ushered in a wave of investment by firms including JPMorgan Chase and UBS Group. Mounting trade tensions under US President Donald Trump are adding to the uncertainty. Zhejiang is a wealthy province on China's east coast that's home to e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding as well as Yiwu city, a manufacturing hub that exports globally. Nomura's majority-owned venture with Oriental International (Holding) and Shanghai Huangpu Investment Holding (Group) has branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen as well. BLOOMBERG
Japan Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Nomura's China losses narrow as brokerage seeks turnaround
Nomura Holdings posted a smaller loss at its joint venture in China last year, as the brokerage seeks to turn around the business in the face of slowing growth and trade tensions. Net loss at Shanghai-based Nomura Orient International Securities narrowed 30% to 128.7 million yuan ($18 million) in the year ending Dec. 31, a statement showed this week, marking the second straight year of improvement. Nomura's majority-owned venture with Oriental International and Shanghai Huangpu Investment has continued to lose money since its inception in late 2019. Despite last year's improvement, credit impairment losses more than doubled, it said. The unit has been undergoing an overhaul after its initial ambition to grow its wealth management business veered off track during the pandemic. It has shifted its priority to expanding in areas including research and trading, while it is seeking a new chief executive officer, it was reported this month. The venture said it expects China's economic growth to slow this year as exports come under pressure from U.S. trade policies. It will seek to generate stable and positive returns from proprietary trading in anticipation of more monetary easing in China, according to the statement. "We continue to work with our JV partners to make our business in China profitable,' Nomura said in a statement, declining to comment further. Headcount at the venture fell to 208 last year from 246 a year earlier. When it started, the firm had targeted raising its employee numbers to 500 by 2023. China makes up a relatively small part of Tokyo-based Nomura's international business, even as Asia's largest economy was once a pillar of the firm's growth strategy. Chief Executive Officer Kentaro Okuda instead identified India and the Middle East as growth regions in a presentation released about a year ago, without mentioning China. Nomura's losses in China contrast with profits for the broader Asia region. Pretax profit from Asia and Oceania, excluding Japan, more than doubled to ¥52 billion ($364 million) in the 12 months ending Dec. 31, according to filings.
Business Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Nomura's China losses narrow as brokerage seeks turnaround
[NEW YORK] Nomura Holdings posted a smaller loss at its joint venture in China last year, as the brokerage seeks to turn around the business in the face of slowing growth and trade tensions. Net loss at Shanghai-based Nomura Orient International Securities narrowed 30 per cent to 128.7 million yuan (S$23 million) in the year ended Dec 31, a statement showed this week, marking the second straight year of improvement. Nomura's majority-owned venture with Oriental International (Holding) and Shanghai Huangpu Investment Holding (Group) has continued to lose money since its inception in late 2019. Despite last year's improvement, credit impairment losses more than doubled, it said. The unit has been undergoing an overhaul after its initial ambition to grow the wealth management business veered off track during the pandemic. It has shifted its priority to expanding in areas including research and trading, while it is seeking a new chief executive officer, Bloomberg reported this month. The venture said it expects China's economic growth to slow this year as exports come under pressure from the Trump administration's trade policies. It will seek to generate stable and positive returns from proprietary trading in anticipation of more monetary easing in China, according to the statement. 'We continue to work with our JV partners to make our business in China profitable,' Nomura said in a statement, declining to comment further. Headcount at the venture fell to 208 last year from 246 a year earlier. When it started, the firm had targeted raising its employee numbers to 500 by 2023. China makes up a relatively small part of Tokyo-based Nomura's international business, even as Asia's largest economy was once a pillar of the firm's growth strategy. Chief executive officer Kentaro Okuda instead identified India and the Middle East as growth regions in a presentation released about a year ago, without mentioning China. Nomura's losses in China contrast with profits for the broader Asia region. Pretax profit from Asia and Oceania, excluding Japan, more than doubled to 52 billion yen in the 12 months ended Dec 31, according to filings. BLOOMBERG
Japan Times
15-04-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Nomura scaling back China wealth unit, shifting focus to brokerage and assets
Nomura Holdings has scaled back its original focus on China wealth to prioritize an expansion in brokerage and asset management in the world's second largest economy, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Nomura Orient International Securities has trimmed staffing by about two-thirds in its China wealth business over the past two years, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is confidential. Nomura is now seeking a new CEO for the securities business as Japan's biggest brokerage plans to focus on asset management and research, and will invest further in its sales and trading business on the mainland, they said. The overall venture has been under pressure to revive its performance after posting consecutive years of losses since being formed in 2019. While it was confident that its expertise of catering to rich Japanese would help give it an edge in China, its wealth business push has teetered under President Xi Jinping's "common prosperity' drive, a slowing economy and stiff competition. The bank is constantly reassessing the business and will not comment further on personnel matters or breakdowns of employee numbers, it said in an emailed reply to questions. In 2023 the bank flagged that it was reviewing its strategy for the Shanghai-based venture amid losses, and then last year said it had finished the assessment. While Nomura's struggles in China are shared by other global firms that have had to temper their initial exuberance, its prior losses have exceeded many of theirs. The entity's loss in 2023 narrowed by 19% to 184.5 million yuan ($25.3 million) after a record shortfall the prior year. It had a total of 246 employees, though the annual report didn't break out the number of wealth employees. Back in 2020, the firm had targeted raising its headcount to 500 and becoming a fully licensed securities house by the end of 2023. Brokerage revenue, which included contribution from wealth management, accounted for almost 60% of its total fees and commission by end of 2023. The new CEO will work closely with the head of the China committee of Nomura Holdings, who serves as the primary liaison to the Tokyo headquarters and guides its direction in the mainland, the people said. In a sign of increased oversight from Japan, the head of this steering committee was changed as of April 1, with Deputy President Toshiyasu Iiyama stepping in, according to its website. It had previously planned for Mitsutaka Kitamura, the venture's general manager, to hold both roles. Iiyama, one of the broker's most senior executives, is also Nomura's chief of staff.
