MoversSeek Online Search for Latest News and Hot Trends

Nomura has reported heavy losses for the final three months of 2008, as it struggles to integrate parts of failed US bank Lehman Brothers.

The broker made a net loss of 342.9bn yen ($3.8bn; £2.7bn) compared with a profit of 21.8bn yen a year ago.

Its decision to buy the Asian and European operations of collapsed US bank Lehman Brothers hit earnings hard.

"Last quarter was extraordinary for our industry and Nomura was no exception," said Nomura boss Keniche Watanabe.

Regrettable results

The results represent the fourth consecutive quarterly loss for the company, Japan's largest stockbroking firm.

Total revenue for the period collapsed to just 2.71bn yen, compared with 400.37bn yen for the final quarter of 2007.

"This is a regrettable set of results," said Nomura's chief financial Masafumi Nakada.

The company was forced to absorb costs incurred by the Lehman deal at a time when the global financial crisis triggered big losses on its investments. Source