SoftBank Q1 profit climbs 49% to $6.4 bn

THE VISION FUND PORTFOLIO RANGES FROM RIDEHAILING FIRMS, DIGITAL PAYMENTS, SATELLITES

TOKYO : SoftBank Group Corp.’s first-quarter profit climbed 49% from a year earlier, thanks to investment gains.

The Japanese telecommunications provider and technology investor said operating profit was 715 billion yen ($6.4 billion) in the three months ended June, boosted by a 245 billion yen gain from its Vision Fund and a 161 billion yen gain on the sale of subsidiary ARM’s Chinese unit. Revenue was 2.27 trillion yen.

Founder Masayoshi Son has shifted his focus to the company’s longer-term future and investments in overseas technology companies. Last year, he formed the Vision Fund, raising almost $100 billion from big backers including Saudi Arabia and Apple Inc. Son has said the fund represents the transforma“The tion of SoftBank from a telecoms conglomerate to a holdings group with investments in the world’s most influential technology companies.

Vision Fund will continue to deliver results every year and increase its value,” Son said at a briefing in Tokyo on Monday.

“We are creating a group of the world’s most advanced unicorn companies.”

The Vision Fund portfolio ranges from ride-hailing companies, digital payments and satellites to semiconductors, agriculture and cancer detection.