SoftBank Group on Monday published its consolidated financial report for the first quarter of its 2017 fiscal year, revealing that it recorded an operating profit of $4.32 billion (479.3 billion yen) over the three-month period ending June 30, thus beating street estimates by a significant margin. The company’s shares continued rising in value following the publication of the report, with its stock currently being 16 percent up year-on-year and trading at $81.42 per share. The firm’s founder Masayoshi Son said that the Japanese conglomerate is still in the process of establishing its $100 billion Vision Fund that’s being managed by a variety of high-profile investors from all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, with some industry analyst labeling that statement as unsurprising in light of the fact that the fund is expected to ensure the company’s long-term technology portfolio that’s expected to drive its revenue in the future.
In a statement given to the local media following the publication of SoftBank’s Q1 2017 results, Mr. Son revealed that the tech giant is satisfied with how its subsidiary Sprint is doing in recent quarters, adding that the Overland Park, Kansas-based mobile service provider is more than capable to continue operating on its own. The fourth largest wireless carrier in the United States just returned to profit for the first time in three years, as revealed by its consolidated financial report for the second quarter of 2017 that the company released last week. Regardless, SoftBank is still exploring a number of possible merger options for Sprint, Mr. Son revealed, stating that a consolidation would be beneficial to Sprint’s growth ambitions. The Japanese conglomerate is said to be close to proposing a merger of Sprint and Charter Communications, with industry sources claiming that SoftBank already secured around $65 billion for the deal, though the cable provider recently publicly dismissed the idea of consolidating its operations with the wireless carrier.
Some industry watchers previously speculated that SoftBank is only looking to launch an official merger bid in an effort to gain more leverage in its consolidation talks with T-Mobile that should resume in the coming days and isn’t expecting Charter to seriously consider the proposal. SoftBank had ambitions to acquire T-Mobile since at least 2014, though the Bellevue, Washington-based wireless carrier improved its performance by a significant margin in the meantime and it remains unclear whether its parent Deutsche Telekom would now be willing to sell a controlling stake in the firm.