Nomura catches Lehman omen - posts massive 3Q loss amid global turmoil

TOKYO (AP) Nomura Holdings Inc. says it posted a group net loss of 342.9 billion yen ($3.8 billion) for the October-December quarter, as the global financial turmoil and slumping equity markets dragged Japan's biggest brokerage deeper into the red.The company posted a profit of 21.8 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. The third quarter loss exceeded the 72.9 billion yen loss that Nomura posted for the June-September quarter.The company, which bought Lehman Brothers' operations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, says pretax losses for the latest quarter totaled 399.5 billion yen from a profit of 44.4 billion yen the previous year. For the nine months ended December, it reported a net loss of 492.4 billion yen on revenue of 518.3 billion yen.