Nomura Q3 Profit Drop Prompts Crypto Exposure Reduction

Japanese banking giant Nomura will reportedly reduce its exposure to crypto, citing the current tough market climate and a dip in profits from overseas in the third quarter.

Nomura chief financial officer Hiroyuki Moriuchi said that the firm would look to reduce its risk exposure at its European digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital Holdings, after it posted losses in the quarter ending Dec. 31, Bloomberg Japan reported on Friday.

Moriuchi said that while its subsidiary took a hit amid the crypto market turbulence, the firm will manage its stability through stringent position management over the next few months. 

He added that its commitment to crypto remains unchanged and that Nomura is eyeing expansion in the medium to long-term future for its Switzerland-based subsidiary. 

Nomura’s Q3 started just before a major crypto market crash in October, which sent Bitcoin (BTC) crashing from its $126,000 peak high on Oct. 6 to around $88,000 by Dec. 31 at the end of the quarter, according to CoinGecko data.  

Nomura said in its third-quarter earnings on Friday that its crypto and non-crypto European ventures accounted for a 10.6 billion yen ($68.47 million) loss on its balance sheet. The firm still posted a profit from its overseas ventures, pulling in 16.3 billion yen ($105.29 million), a 70% decrease from the same period a year earlier.

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The company posted a net income of 91.6 billion yen ($590 million), a 9.7% decrease from Q3 2024. Part of this, however, was down to a $1.8 billion purchase of Macquarie Group’s US and European public asset management business, along with other expenses tied to a stock buyback scheme.

Nomura shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange have dropped around 6.8% on Monday as the market reacted to Nomura’s Q3 results.

Hideyasu Ban, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, told The Japan Times on Sunday that “there is a vague sense of unease about the overall market direction, and that seems to have combined with the surprise on the crypto front to set off selling.”

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