Market unfazed by Nomura's $7.2 billion loss

Compared to the near-hysteria surrounding the results of Western investment banks, Nomura Securities' consolidated results announcement after the market closed on Friday seemed to generate very little discussion, even though the Japanese investment bank posted its largest ever annual loss. It said its net loss for the 2008 Japanese fiscal year (which runs from April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009) amounted to ¥709.4 billion ($7.22 billion), or more than 10 times the ¥67.8 billion loss it made in the previous year.

On the English-language analyst call later that day, just one analyst asked questions, while on the Japanese analyst call, there were just three questions.

Standard and Poor's rating agency said in a report that the losses would "not have a direct impact on the company's rating (BBB+)...Standard & Poor's views Nomura's financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 as being within our assumptions".

The bank reported a net loss of ¥217.1 billion for the fourth quarter (ending March 2009) -- a slight improvement from the ¥342.9 billion loss in the third quarter -- which it attributed to write-downs on real-estate and other illiquid assets.

The company's share price dropped just ¥3 on Friday, to ¥605. Although the announcement was made after market hours, The Nikkei newspaper had leaked the news already on Thursday. Nomura's stock price seems to be stabilising after a negative period and has added ¥100 since the beginning of April. However, the current share price still compares unfavourably to the high of ¥2,711 in February 2007.