Softbank Group reported net profit up 52 percent in the first nine months of its fiscal year, to JPY 1.538 trillion, driven by gains from its Vision investment fund. The company also announced that it will use the proceeds from the recent IPO of its Japanese telecom business on a JPY 600 billion share buyback programme.
Revenues for the nine months to December rose 5 percent to JPY 7.168 trillion, supported by growth at the Japanese business, Yahoo Japan and US operator Sprint. EBIT increased 62 percent to JPY 1.859 trillion, thanks to growth at ARM, Brightstar and Softbank Corp.
The investment gains were driven by the sale of Softbank's stakes in Nvidia and Flipkart, which raised a gross JPY 220 billion, as well as valuation gains on shares such as Uber and Alibaba. Of the JPY 2 trillion raised from the Japanese IPO, Softbank is re-investing JPY 700 billion, using JPY 700 billion to pay off debt and the remainder will go to the share buyback.
