Nomura Holdings Inc. said Tuesday its profit fell 32 percent in the nine months to December due to a slowdown in its bond business and higher costs in its merchant banking operations.

Nomura's net profit totaled 69.19 billion yen for the April-December period, down from 102.42 billion yen a year earlier.

Its revenue, however, rose 7.9 percent to 852.95 billion yen from 790.83 billion yen a year earlier.

In its global wholesale operations, including investment and merchant banking, revenue fell 15 percent to 226.31 billion yen. In its domestic retail operations, revenue declined 1 percent to 224.75 billion yen.