Nomura Posts $7.3B Loss on Lehman Costs

By Yuri Kageyama

TOKYO -- Nomura Holdings(NMR Quote), Japan's top brokerage, suffered one of the largest annual losses in Japanese corporate history, hit by slumping stock markets and the cost of acquiring part of collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers.

Tokyo-based Nomura said Friday its net loss for the fiscal year ended March 31 swelled to 709.4 billion yen ($7.3 billion) from 67.8 billion yen the year before.

The broker's loss, along with electronics maker Hitachi's(HIT Quote) projected red ink of about 700 billion yen, are among the worst ever recorded in Japan as the world's second-largest economy withers in the face of a collapse in global demand. Hitachi reports earnings May 12. ...