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Nomura’s 40% Surge Gives CEO Room to Address Woes at Home

  • Shares have jumped since wholesale business returned to profit
  • Biggest Japan brokerage is trying to overhaul retail operation
Koji Nagai
Koji NagaiPhotographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg
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Nomura Holdings Inc.’s investors are cheering the firm’s early progress in cutting $1 billion of costs at its global trading and investment banking business. Reviving the domestic retail operation may prove more of a challenge.

Japan’s biggest brokerage has jumped 40% from this year’s low in early June, buoyed by a return to profit at its wholesale arm, where Chief Executive Officer Koji Nagai has been focusing the cutbacks. A revival in fixed income -- which made up 25% of net revenue last quarter -- helped shareholders shrug off a sixth straight year-on-year decline in pretax income at its retail business.