Japan's SoftBank Group marks a return to profit as it cuts Vision Fund losses

Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank Group returned to profitability in October-December after four straight quarters in the red, the company said on Thursday.

Tokyo-based SoftBank reported a 950 billion yen (USD 6.4 billion), profit for the October-December quarter, a reversal from a 783 billion yen loss in the same period a year earlier.

It remained in the red for the first nine months of the fiscal year that ends in March. Its 458.7 billion yen (USD 3 billion) loss for April-December was still an improvement from the 912.5 billion yen in losses a year earlier.

Nine-month sales at SoftBank rose 2.6 per cent to 5 trillion yen (USD 33.6 billion). Quarterly sales rose nearly 5 per cent to 1.77 trillion yen (USD 11.9 billion).

SoftBank, which invests in companies such as Yahoo Japan, T-Mobile, Alibaba and Line, said it reduced its losses related to its array of investments called the Vision Fund.

But it added losses from its holding in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, though overall SoftBank has reduced its exposure to the Chinese market.

The company, led by visionary billionaire Masayoshi Son, has also invested in WeWork, a provider of shared work spaces, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.

The listing of British semiconductor and software design company Arm on the Nasdaq in September netted 674 billion yen (USD 4.6 billion) in proceeds. SoftBank, which owns a 90.6 per cent stake in Arm, said it sees great potential in Arm because of its deals with leading companies for building chips for smartphones and other devices, and for auto and AI applications.

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