Earnings Focus - Softbank Records First-Half Net Profit Of $326.9 Million After Restructuring
November 24, 2000
Dow Jones Newswires
TOKYO -- Softbank Corp. reported a sharp improvement in its earnings in the first fiscal half ended Sept. 30 from a year ago, helped by restructuring of an unprofitable U.S. subsidiary, as well as a foreign-exchange gain on loans it provided to a U.S. unit.
The Internet business investor posted a group net profit of 36.31 billion yen ($326.9 million) for the six months ended Sept. 30, compared with a group net loss of 3.52 billion yen a year ago.
It reported group revenue of 180.24 billion yen for the first fiscal half, down 10.6% from 201.58 billion yen.
Softbank sold off the publishing division of U.S. Ziff Davis Inc., in which the Japanese firm had had a 62% stake, and spun off other divisions for mergers with CNET Networks Inc. and Key3Media Group Inc. Through the mergers Softbank obtained an 18% stake in CNET and a 55% stake in Key3Media, it said.
The sale of Ziff-Davis Publishing sliced 42.0 billion yen off Softbank's group revenue, while a fall in Softbank's stake in ZDNet, formerly a division of Ziff-Davis, making it an unconsolidated affiliate, sliced 4.9 billion yen off Softbank's revenue, it said. Also, a drop in Softbank's stake in UTStarcom Inc. to a partial consolidation level from a full consolidation level due to UTStarcom's initial public offering sliced 9.3 billion yen off Softbank's revenues, it said.
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