SoftBank Reports Strong Profit

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's SoftBank Group recorded a net profit of 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion) for the three months ending September, benefiting from increased share prices of companies from its Vision Fund.

The results far exceeded expectations, as analysts had predicted a profit of 287 billion yen ($1.87 billion). This marks a significant turnaround from a loss of 931 billion yen during the same period last year.

SoftBank's cautious investment approach is beginning to pay off, as the tech giant navigated through a difficult phase when interest rate hikes devalued its high-growth tech start-up holdings.

Recently, some valuations have begun to recover, leading to a gain of 608 billion yen for the Vision Fund. In four of the last five quarters, the unit has reported profits.

Despite Vision Fund 1 showing a gross gain of $22.6 billion since its inception, this has been countered by a $21 billion loss from Vision Fund 2.

Additionally, a recovery of the yen against the dollar this quarter resulted in a gain of 289 billion yen, enabling easier funding of dollar-denominated liabilities in yen.

($1 = 153.6400 yen)