Daiwa Securities tips break even next year

Daiwa Securities Group, Japan's second-largest brokerage, said it expected its equities business in Asia excluding Japan to break even by the middle of next year after investing 100 billion yen (HK$9.3 billion) to expand in Asia last year. The Japanese broker, which bought Belgium's KBC Group's global convertible bonds and its Hong Kong Asian equity derivatives operations for US$1 billion in July, said the business would generate five billion yen in annual profit before depreciation. Daiwa has partially moved its management to Hong Kong from Tokyo and will hire a further 300 staff.