SoftBank Group, the Japanese multinational conglomerate, announced its first-quarter results on Tuesday. Here is a breakdown of the key details:
Net Loss
SoftBank Group reported a net loss of ¥477.62 billion ($3.35 billion) for the first quarter. Although worse than the estimated net loss of ¥69.95 billion according to a poll by Visible Alpha, it was an improvement compared to the net loss of ¥3.163 trillion in the same period last year.
Revenue
The company’s first-quarter revenue declined by 0.9% to ¥1.558 trillion compared to the previous year. This fell short of the estimated revenue of ¥1.648 trillion as per the Visible Alpha poll.
Important Highlights
Vision Funds Business
SoftBank’s Vision Funds business witnessed a significant turnaround, reporting a profit of ¥61.04 billion, recovering from the huge loss of ¥2.331 trillion in the previous year. This improvement was primarily driven by gains from investments in Latin America.
ARM Business
Unfortunately, SoftBank’s Arm business suffered a loss of ¥9.51 billion, in contrast to a profit of ¥29.85 billion recorded in the same period last year. The decline in revenue, higher expenses related to stock compensation programs, and increased headcount to enhance research and development capability contributed to this loss. Additionally, revenue dropped by 11% YoY to $641 million due to a slowdown in the semiconductor market for smartphones and Internet-of-Things home devices.
Japan Mobile Services
On a positive note, SoftBank’s Japanese mobile and internet services experienced a 15% increase in profit compared to the previous year, reaching ¥254.99 billion. The strength of its enterprise cloud business played a significant role in driving this growth.