Nomura Holdings to end sponsorship for JOC amid financial crisis

TOKYO, Dec. 29 Kyodo - Nomura Holdings Inc. will not renew its official sponsor contract with the
Japanese Olympic Committee expiring at the end of this year to trim its
advertising costs due to a worsening business performance amid the global
financial crisis, company officials said Monday.

Nomura has been an official sponsor of the JOC since 1999 and the current
contract covers a four-year period from January 2005. The JOC basically signs
up with one company in one business sector.
The officials declined to reveal how much the holding company of Japan's
largest brokerage, Nomura Securities Co., will save by ending its sponsorship
with the JOC.
Kenichi Chizuka, vice president and secretary general of the JOC, said Nomura's
decision is ''very regrettable'' and that he ''cannot foresee the outlook'' for
sponsorship for the organization in 2009 and beyond.
The JOC plans to launch a new marketing program next year, under which a
top-ranking official sponsor will pay 600 million yen for a four-year
sponsorship.
AIU Insurance Co., a nonlife insurance firm under the umbrella of struggling
U.S. insurance giant American International Group Inc. and also one of the JOC
sponsors, has already decided not to renew its current contract with the JOC.
Chizuka voiced concern that the moves by Nomura and AIU might affect decisions
of official sponsors in other business sectors, which have been less affected
by the financial crisis than securities and insurance.
Nomura is expected to chalk up sizable group losses in the current business
year through March 31 due to the sagging financial market conditions and huge
expenses of purchasing part of failed U.S. brokerage house Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc.
==Kyodo
2008-12-29 23:49:03