Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s profit jumped last quarter as all the main businesses fired for Japan’s second-biggest brokerage.
Net income climbed 52% in the three months ended Sept. 30 to 29.8 billion yen ($198 million) from a year ago, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement Tuesday. The firm said it plans to buy back as much as 35 billion yen of shares, or about 2.4% of its outstanding stock.
Daiwa joins larger rival Nomura Holdings Inc. in benefiting from a Japanese equity market recovery that prompted individual clients to trade stocks and purchase investment products. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is trying to encourage people to invest more of their savings through measures such as tax breaks, a move that stands to benefit securities firms.
“Our consolidated earnings are clearly becoming more stable as we steadily move ahead with a structural overhaul,” Chief Financial Officer Eiji Sato said at a news briefing. “That’s adding to our confidence that we are heading in the right direction in terms of business strategy.”
An improvement in the retail business has also contributed to a recovery for SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. The main brokerage subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. turned to profit after losing money for five straight quarters, results showed Tuesday.
A stock market rebound in the country has spurred companies to issue shares, boosting equity underwriting business for Japanese securities firms. The benchmark Topix index climbed to a 33-year high in the quarter, although the rally has since lost steam.
Daiwa and other financial stocks rose on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan said it will be more flexible in its control of bond yields. A revival of Japan’s bond market will likely boost fixed-income business, creating room for financial companies to hire bankers, Daiwa Deputy President Keiko Tashiro said last month.
The Japanese central bank may consider scrapping its negative interest-rate policy as early as April depending on the result of spring wage negotiations between Japanese companies and labor unions, Sato said.
Key Figures From Daiwa:
- Revenue from stock underwriting more than doubled from a year earlier, while bond underwriting also rose
- Income from mergers advisory and others rose 20%
- Global markets trading posted 9.2 billion yen in ordinary profit, vs a loss in the same period a year ago
- The retail division’s ordinary profit surged 96% to 12 billion yen, compared with 29 billion yen in pretax income at Nomura
- Daiwa’s overseas business posted 3.9 billion yen in ordinary income, representing the 30th straight quarter of profit
- Europe turned a profit due to a recovery in M&A revenues; ordinary income in Americas, its biggest overseas market, fell due to a drop in fixed income, currencies and commodities revenues
(Updates with more details throughout)