Softbank's Son sees better half ahead


Softbank founder Son sees better times ahead for his Internet investment company

TOKYO, Japan -- Softbank Corp founder and president Masayoshi Son said Tuesday he expected the Japanese Internet investor to post a group net profit in the second half.

That came after appraisal losses on Softbank's technology-related shareholdings resulted in a first-half loss of $441 million.

"You can never predict the stock market, but if current conditions continue, I think we will achieve that result (a second-half profit)," Son told a news conference.

But he added that the consolidated net figure for the full year to next March would likely still be in the red.

Softbank shares closed Tuesday down 60 yen or 2.23 percent at 2635 yen, well below its 12-month high of 8000 yen, on a day when the broader market lost about 1.4 percent.

Shares in Yahoo Japan, held 51 percent by Softbank, were flat, down 10,000 yen or 0.24 percent to 4.17 million yen

Sharp turnaround in the first half

Earlier in the day, Softbank said it posted a group net loss of 54.3 billion yen ($441.2 million) for the six months to September 30. That was a sharp turnaround from a net profit of 36.3 billion yen a year earlier.

Sales came in at 183.37 billion yen, up 1.7 percent from a year ago.

Softbank said it booked appraisal losses of 34.8 billion yen on its securities investments and 16.0 billion yen on shareholdings in affiliated companies. Its holdings have been hard-hit by the global slump in high-tech companies.

In March, Softbank said it had invested a total 682.6 billion yen in 825 companies globally, of which only 60 were listed firms.

To stem further damage to its balance sheet, Softbank has said it would scale back its overseas operations, cutting 70 jobs and the number of offices to three from 11.

Reuters contributed to this report.