The profit of the SoftBank Group jumped more than twentyfold Monday as the Japanese bank posted a net profit of 1.17 trillion yen ($11.1 billion) in the October-to-December quarter, compared with a net profit of 55 billion yen in the same quarter a year earlier.
The year-on-year leap was due mainly to investment gains by its Vision Fund businesses, which focus on technology startups.
The Japanese technology and investment group said gains on investments at Vision Fund businesses stood at nearly 1.4 trillion yen for the quarter.
The group also saw its sales in the three-month period grow 10.7% from a year earlier to 1.51 trillion yen.
SoftBank did not provide earnings on an operating basis or profit forecasts for the current financial year through March 2021.
The group booked a net loss of 962 billion yen for the previous financial year ending March 31, 2020, as its Vision Fund business suffered a 1.8-trillion-yen investment loss because of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. After a massive annual loss, the conglomerate also saw its first-half net profit for 2020 soar 346.7%, sealing a strong recovery, according to data in November.
SoftBank said it had completed the sale or monetization of assets totaling 5.6 trillion yen from April to September last year to improve its financial health and expand share buybacks to support its stock price.
