TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group reported a fourth-quarter net profit on Monday, its second consecutive quarter of profits, confirming its recovery illustrated by the good performance of Arm Holdings, which the group considers the new jewel of its heritage.
Net profit for the fourth quarter amounted to 328.9 billion yen (1.96 billion euros), which does not prevent the net result for the whole year from remaining in the red.
The result comes after Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said in February that the technology investment firm, long known for its earnings volatility and outsized bets on tech start-ups, was poised to regain a “growth trajectory”.
Stocks of technology companies held up well in the fourth quarter thanks to continued enthusiasm around who will benefit from the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
Softbank is not a major investor in companies developing AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, but it owns 90% of Arm, whose valuation has soared with the excitement around AI.
Arm being a consolidated subsidiary of Softbank, its results do not however contribute to those of the Japanese group.
The Vision Fund, through which Softbank primarily invests, saw its valuation decline in the fourth quarter, leading to a loss of 57.5 billion yen.
(Reporting Anton Bridge; Lina Golovnya, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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