Waddell & Reed, Nomura, Amex

Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. and Nomura Holdings Inc. posted quarterly losses today while credit card giant American Express Co. reported a profit late yesterday. Waddell & Reed Financial reported a fourth-quarter loss of $730,000 or 1 cent per share, compared with a profit of $35.1 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier, due to a severe decline in assets under management. The Overland Park, Kan.-based investment manager saw assets under management drop 26.8% from the year-ago period, to $47.5 billion. Nomura Holdings posted a record 342.9-billion yen ($3.8 billion) loss for its fiscal third quarter, compared with a 21.8-billion yen profit in the year-ago period. Tokyo-based Nomura attributed its third-quarter struggles to a one-time cost of 60.3 billion ($707 million) related to its acquisition of the Asian and European operations of bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. of New York. Today, as Nomura was reporting its dismal quarter, the Japanese government announced a plan to inject state funds into ailing companies in exchange for stakes in those firms. American Express posted a fourth-quarter profit yesterday, although it represented a 79% decline from the same period last year, due to a cutback on consumer spending from its credit card clients, the New York-based company reported. Net income was $172 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with earnings of $831 million, or 71 cents per share, in the year-ago period.