Softbank Group Posts 3 Tril. Yen 9 - Month Profit
Japan's SoftBank Group has posted a record profit for the first nine months of the current business year. Net income was more than 3 trillion yen, or about 29 billion dollars . That was mainly due to gains from rising valuations for some of its investments.
The company says net profit for the April-to-December period was more than six times higher than a year earlier.
SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Son Masayoshi said that while 3 trillion yen may be a considerable amount of money, he is not satisfied with a record at this level.
SMBC Nikko Securities says SoftBank is the first Japanese company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to post net profit exceeding 3 trillion yen for the nine-month period.
SoftBank Group has a portfolio of investments, mostly in technology companies, through its Vision Funds unit.
The group said surges in the stock prices of ride-hailing giant Uber and US food-delivery service DoorDash and other holdings pushed up its net profit.
The group also cited the robust business of its telecoms subsidiary SoftBank as well as its online retail business Z Holdings.
Regarding the group's strategy, Son compared SoftBank to the goose that lays the golden egg. He said the group will concentrate on investing in the AI revolution in the information technology sector.