Nomura Holdings, Inc. has published its consolidated financial results for the first quarter of its 2021 fiscal year this Wednesday, revealing the strongest performance in its wholesale division in almost two decades.

Nomura’s 2021 fiscal year is the 12 months ending on the 31st of March 2021. Therefore, the first quarter of this fiscal year is the three months spanning from the beginning of April to the end of June 2020.

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During this three-month period, net revenue was ¥460.7 billion (US$4.3 billion). This is stronger than the net revenue achieved in the prior-year period, which was ¥332.0 billion, by 38.8 percent.

Income before taxes was ¥181.8 billion during the first quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of 143 percent year on year. Net income attributable to Nomura Holdings shareholders also posted an increase of 155.3 percent, reaching ¥142.5 billion.

Nomura wholesale unit soars

Nomura’s wholesale division booked net revenue during the three month period of ¥248.7 billion. When measuring this against the previous quarter, this is higher by 70 percent. Year on year, wholesale net revenue increased by 56 percent.

The Japanese-headquartered company’s wholesale division covers its global markets, which includes trading in equities, foreign exchange (forex), rates and credit in cash and derivative products, as well as its investment banking services.

According to Nomura President and Group CEO Kentaro Okuda, the wholesale unit achieved its strongest performance since the fiscal year ended March 2002. This, according to Okuda, was thanks to market normalization after a downturn in March and increased client activity mainly due to portfolio rebalancing.

“Pretax income from our three core businesses grew more than sixfold compared to the previous quarter and all three international regions reported a record pretax income,” Okuda said in the company’s statement today. 

“We also booked a Segment Other gain in relation to the approval of rights in the Nihonbashi redevelopment project that contributed to the second highest level of firmwide pretax income and net income.”