Japan’s Softbank Corp yesterday said net profit in the first six months of its fiscal year jumped by more than a third, thanks to a US$5 billion gain from its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴).
However, the company warned that annual operating profit would be lower than expected owing to poor performance at US wireless carrier Sprint Corp, which the Japanese firm bought in a US$21.6 billion deal last year.
Softbank’s first-half net profit rose 36.7 percent from a year earlier to ￥560.71 billion (US$4.9 billion).
Softbank has a one-third equity stake in Alibaba, which raised US$25.02 billion in a record initial public offering in September.
The Japanese giant said its April to September revenue soared 57.9 percent to ￥4.1 trillion as it incorporated revenue from Sprint and other acquisitions, while sales in its mobile communications division also grew.
However, operating profit fell 19.1 percent to ￥596.66 billion due partly to costs associated with job cuts at Sprint, while the year-earlier figure was also higher due to one-time gains, Softbank said.
No. 3 US wireless carrier Sprint on Monday said it was slashing 2,000 jobs in a streamlining effort after posting a US$765 million quarterly loss.
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