Nomura cuts executive pay to 3-year low as Daiwa increases

[TOKYO] Nomura Holdings Inc cut pay for its top executives by 18 per cent to the lowest level in three years after profit at Japan's biggest brokerage slumped and losses abroad swelled.

The seven executives, including Chief Executive Officer Koji Nagai, were awarded an average of 166.4 million yen (S$2.09 million) in base salary, bonuses and deferred remuneration for the year ended March, according to calculations based on a document disclosed for shareholders Tuesday. Local competitor Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased executives' pay by 9.2 per cent, bringing it closer to Nomura's.

The drop in compensation at Nomura came after net income fell 42 per cent to a three-year low of 131.6 billion yen as the Tokyo-based firm failed to achieve a goal of returning overseas operations to profit. Mr Nagai, 57, reshuffled his executive team earlier this year before unveiling cost-cutting measures including plans to pull back from European equities and reduce its US stocks business.

Nomura also disclosed 10 million yen in rent-related costs for the fiscal year, according to the document. The amount covered several months of accommodation equipped with security systems for an executive in Tokyo, and was cheaper than what the firm had previously been paying for the person's security, a person familiar with the matter said.

Even with Daiwa's profit also falling to a three-year low, the firm awarded CEO Takashi Hibino and 12 other executives an average of 86.9 million yen in compensation, up from 79.6 million yen a year earlier, figures disclosed to shareholders showed Wednesday. Net income dropped 21 per cent to 116.8 billion yen in the year through March.

Shares of Nomura have dropped more than Daiwa's this year as its larger overseas presence exposed the firm to a worldwide trading slump. Nomura closed 1.9 per cent higher in Tokyo Wednesday, paring this year's decline to 30 per cent. Daiwa gained 2.2 per cent, and has slid 14 per cent in 2016.

Nomura's shareholders are scheduled to hold their annual general meeting in Tokyo on June 22, and Daiwa's investors will gather on June 28. Individual executives' pay is usually disclosed after the meetings.

Barclays Plc's Japanese securities unit was listed as one of Nomura's top 10 shareholders, the filing showed. It was the first time that the firm appeared on the list in at least five years, according to Kenji Yamashita, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Nomura. The UK brokerage was named as the No 4 shareholder of Daiwa.

BLOOMBERG