SoftBank reports 11-fold increase in profit for Q3

Japanese firm SoftBank reported an 11-fold increase in profit for the third quarter in the fiscal year 2018. SoftBank, which also owns stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and British computer chip and software giant, Arm, said its October-December profit was 912.3 billion yen ($8.4 billion), up from 80.3 billion yen a year earlier. Quarterly sales rose 3.9 percent to 2.4 trillion yen ($22 billion).

SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said that group companies like Arm and Yahoo Japan were doing well, and he planned to invest in more companies that he called "unicorns." One such company he mentioned is Wag, a US venture that connects dog owners with dog walkers online, which Son referred to as the "dog version of Uber."

SoftBank said that it plans to list its Japanese telecommunications company this year to raise cash for more investments. SoftBank has relied on its domestic telecoms business, which makes up a third of overall sales but two-thirds of profit, as a stable source of cash that can be diverted to its growing number of investments around the world.

Additionally, the company reported a 2.8 percent fall in third-quarter operating profit, due in part to higher costs. However, SoftBank did not release a forecast for the current year, saying there were too many uncertain factors.