Nomura Holdings Inc. says its four years of losing money abroad may soon be over as it rebuilds businesses outside of Japan after cutting costs.

Japan's biggest brokerage is on track to achieve its goal of becoming profitable in Asia, Europe and the United States by March, Chief Financial Officer Shigesuke Kashiwagi said Tuesday after second-quarter earnings beat estimates.

The firm will probably reach another target of ¥50 billion in annual pretax profit from overseas by March 2016, he said.

Shares of Nomura rose the most in almost six months after the firm said it would buy back stock.

Chief Executive Officer Koji Nagai, who set the profit goals after taking the post in August 2012, has started hiring more people overseas after paring expenses that swelled following the 2008 purchase of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s operations.

"It won't be easy to meet the ¥50 billion target," according to Masao Muraki, a Tokyo-based analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, who said low trading volume and interest rates will hamper fixed income. "Nomura has been under pressure from shareholders because it couldn't generate profits from overseas businesses that use a lot of capital."

Shares of Nomura rose 4.4 percent, the most since May 1, to close at ¥636.4 in Tokyo on Wednesday. The stock is down 21 percent this year and lost about 50 percent since it bought Lehman Brothers' European and Asian businesses during the global financial crisis.

Nomura will buy back as many as 40 million shares, 1 percent of its outstanding stock, from Nov. 13 to Jan. 16, the brokerage said Tuesday.

"I can't say I'm relieved yet," Kashiwagi said after a news briefing. "But the steps we've taken, including cost cuts and efforts to improve our credit rating, were correct and are now having a positive effect."

Kashiwagi spoke after Nomura posted a ¥3.7 billion pretax profit from overseas in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of ¥18.7 billion a year earlier. Europe and Asia drove the gains, making up for a loss in the Americas.

Nomura hasn't made an annual profit from abroad since the year ended March 2010, when it posted before-tax earnings of ¥35.6 billion.

Net income climbed 39 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier to ¥52.9 billion, beating analysts' estimates for ¥43 billion, Tuesday's report showed. Higher brokerage commissions, asset management fees and trading income fueled the profit increase as investment banking slumped.

A credit-rating upgrade by Moody's Investors Service earlier this month will enable Nomura to do more derivative business and get more work from government agencies, Kashiwagi said at the briefing. Moody's raised the rating by two levels to Baa1 from the lowest investment grade, citing improved profitability and capital.

Nomura has resumed adding staff overseas. The Japanese firm said this month that it hired 15 senior bankers in the Americas to strengthen investment banking in the region.

Staff levels in the Americas rose 3.7 percent from June to 2,421 at the end of September, the firm said. It added 49 employees in Europe, taking payrolls there to 3,530. The number of staff in Asia outside of Japan rose by 88 to 6,744.