Japanese telecommunications, internet and solar company SoftBank Group Corp. reported Wednesday that its October-December profit soared to about 40 times what it was a year ago.
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Tokyo-based SoftBank’s fiscal third quarter profit totaled 91.2 billion yen ($814 million) up dramatically from 2.3 billion yen in 2015. Quarterly sales were relatively flat on-year at 2.3 trillion yen ($20 billion).
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SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son held a highly publicized meeting with President Donald Trump in New York late last year and promised to invest $50 billion in U.S. startups to create 50,000 jobs.
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An avid overseas investor, SoftBank owns U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp. Sprint was struggling, but its performance has been improving recently.
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It also owns Britain’s ARM Holdings, an innovator in the internet of things. That stake helped boost earnings.
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SoftBank also sells the Pepper human-shaped companion robot. The company, founded in 1981, also has within its investment empire financial technology and ride-booking services.
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SoftBank didn’t give annual forecasts, citing uncertainties. The company generally doesn’t provide earnings guidance.
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For the latest quarter, SoftBank also benefited from a favorable exchange rate. A weak yen helps boost the value of overseas earnings when translated into yen.