SoftBank swings to net profit in first quarter on Vision Funds bounce

SoftBank Group Corp on Thursday reported higher-than-expected net income for its first three months of its financial year, including substantially larger gains from its Vision Funds segment.

The Tokyo-based technology investment holding company reported JPY421.82 billion, around USD2.86 billion, in attributable net income for the quarter ended June 30, against the previous year's JPY174.28 billion loss. Net income surged to JPY564.14 billion from JPY10.47 billion.

Basic earnings per share totalled JPY291.71, swinging from a JPY122.35 loss, while diluted EPS swung to JPY291.28 from a JPY123.67 loss.

Net sales rose 7.0% annually to JPY1.820 trillion from JPY1.701 trillion.

The JPY421.82 billion attributable profit was "more than double the average of analyst estimates", according to Bloomberg, which noted in particular the "recovery" of SoftBank's flagship technology investment business, Vision Fund.

The Vision Funds segment posted a JPY660.18 billion gain on investments for the quarter, multiplied from JPY32.39 billion. It swung to pretax income of JPY451.39 billion from a JPY204.30 billion loss.

"Investment losses of JPY401.9 billion on T-Mobile shares and JPY171.5 billion on Alibaba shares were recorded," SoftBank noted. "This was partially offset by a JPY209.7 billion investment gain on Nvidia shares." It has investments in T-Mobile US Inc, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Nvidia Corp.

Meanwhile, total comprehensive income swung to a JPY96.72 billion loss against the previous year's comprehensive income of JPY1.136 billion. The company reported a JPY669.34 billion loss from exchange differences on translating foreign operations, against a JPY1.123 trillion gain for the prior year.

SoftBank said it expects to pay JPY44.00 per share in total dividends for the financial year ending March 31, 2026, unchanged annually. This would comprise one second-quarter and one fourth quarter payout of JPY22.00 each, also unchanged.