Nomura Holdings, Japan's biggest brokerage, reported a 31 percent rise in third quarter net profit from a year earlier as a gain in Tokyo stocks boosted fees.

Nomura, which is expanding in Asia, Europe and the United States after buying a big chunk of floundering Lehman Brothers in 2008, posted a net profit of 13.39 billion yen ($164.6 million) for the three months ended on December 31, compared with 10.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.

In the previous quarter, ended September 30, the brokerage eked out 1.1 billion yen in net income.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei average gained 9.2 percent in the quarter compared with a 7.3 percent rise in New York's Dow Jones industrial average and a 6.3 percent increase in London's FTSE benchmark during the three months.

The result fell short of the consensus forecast for a 17.4 billion yen profit from four analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. For the full business year to the end of March, the average net income prediction of eight analysts is 36.7 billion yen. Nomura does not release its own outlook.

($1=81.34 Yen)

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Anshuman Daga and Michael Watson)

Japan