Lehman acquisition may cause historic loss

The acquisition that Nomura Holdings Inc Chief Executive Officer Kenichi Watanabe called a "once in a generation opportunity" may lead to another historic event at Asia's biggest securities firm: its largest annual loss.

Nomura may post a loss of as much as $2 billion in the year ending March 31 as it digests the purchase of bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's Asian, European and Middle East units, according to five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That would be the biggest deficit since Tokyo-based Nomura transformed itself into a holding company and listed shares in New York in 2001.

When Watanabe delivers second-quarter earnings tomorrow, analysts said they'll be watching for details about the cost of integrating 8,500 Lehman employees. While Watanabe guaranteed salaries and bonuses to keep workers from joining competitors, he hasn't said how much combining the organizations will cost.