nihon ma center holdings inc shares fell sharply monday morning after its thirdquarter ordinary profit dropped 25 from a year earlier due partly to a fall in big transactions the shares were recently 23 lower at 1353 yen the lower end of the days trading range the japanese brokerage of mergers and acquisitions said friday after market close that ordinary profit fell to y307 billion 236 million for the quarter ended dec 31 from y410 billion a year earlier revenue dropped 99 to y978 billion as the number of large transactions fell leading to a lower profit margin the company said for the ninemonth period ended december net profit dropped 32 from a year earlier to y710 billion nihon ma said nihon ma said that there are plenty of potential deals in the pipeline and that the number of consultants increased 87 from a year earlier at the end of december the merger brokerage kept its earnings outlook for the fiscal year ending march it expects revenue to rise 40 to y4200 billion and net profit to increase 10 to y1260 billion