Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group recorded a surprise $3.5bn profit in its latest quarter as it prepares to deploy tens of billions to fulfil sweeping ambitions in artificial intelligence.
The Japanese tech conglomerate said on Tuesday it made a net profit of ¥517.2bn ($3.5bn) in its fiscal fourth quarter, driven by gains in its telecommunications holdings and improved valuations for other key investments.
The fourth-quarter profit was well ahead of the ¥231bn it made in the same period last year. It also beat analyst expectations of a small ¥26.9bn loss, according to LSEG data, underlining the volatility in the business. The quarterly performance drove a full-year gain of ¥1.2tn, the group’s first annual profit in four years.