Japan’s biggest investment banking and brokerage group, Nomura Holdings, Inc, has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter, as well as total results for the year ending March 2018. Despite growth in revenues, the company has seen a decrease in net income due to a variety of factors.

The Japanese company’s fourth quarter saw net revenue of 378.0 billion yen ($3.46 billion), a seven percent decrease from last quarter’s 406.6 billion yen ($3.72 billion), but an increase of eight percent year on year on year. This left the firm with 46.9 billion yen ($429 million) in pre-income tax income, with 22.7 billion yen ($207.7 million) for Nomura’s shareholders.

For the year as a whole, the company saw a net revenue of 1,497.0 billion yen ($14.7 billion) - a seven percent increase from the previous year. This translated into an annual pre-income tax income of 328.2 billion yen ($3.0 billion).

The firm claimed this represents a two percent year on year increase in pre-income tax income but failed to note that the yen’s inflation rate in the past year has hovered around one percent. This would mean that in real terms, the firm has seen approximately one percent year-on-year increase in pre-income tax income.

A frustrating year

Nomura’s report illustrates the paradoxical year the firm has had. While revenues this year have experienced a healthy level of growth, the firm also experienced periods of stagnation and saw a decrease in its net income from last year. The Nomura Group CEO, Koji Nagai, attributed the decrease to “a rise in the effective tax rate as the Americas booked provisions for legacy transactions”.

The retail banking division was also partially responsible. The department started the quarter well but an increase in US interest rates and a strengthening yen meant a decrease in sales of stocks and investment trusts.

Despite the decrease in net income, the firm and its shareholders have plenty of positives to look to over the past year. Nomura’s asset management team saw its highest net revenue and pre-tax income since 2002 with 11.3 billion yen in income before income tax.

The firm’s wholesale banking team also saw massive year on year increases, with 44.2 billion yen in pre-income tax income. This represented a 57 percent increase on the previous year’s final quarter.