Japan’s SoftBank half-year net profit soars 80%

TOKYO / AP

Japanese telecommunications and internet company SoftBank Group Corp., which has acquired British chipmaker ARM Holdings for about $30 billion, reported on Monday that its July-September profit more than doubled from the same period the previous year.
Tokyo-based Softbank’s fiscal second quarter profit totaled 528.6 billion yen ($5.1 billion), up from 258.6 billion yen last year, boosted by a favorable exchange rate, as well as by healthy operations in Japan, the
company said.
Quarterly sales slipped 3 percent to 2.145 trillion yen ($20.6 billion).
SoftBank didn’t give annual forecasts, citing uncertainties. The company generally doesn’t provide earnings guidance.
The purchase of ARM underlines SoftBank’s ambitions in the “internet of things,” or how various devices, including security cameras and household appliances, connect online and work together.
An active overseas investor, SoftBank also owns U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp., which has been slowly turning itself around.
SoftBank also sells the Pepper human-shaped companion robot for homes and businesses, and runs a solar energy business in Japan, highlighting a critical stance against nuclear energy that has spread since the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Its investment empire encompasses financial technology and ride-booking services. The company has been unusually aggressive in pursuing global expansion and pioneering digital technology since its founding in 1981. It has invested in China and India, as well as the U.S.