TOKYO (AP) – SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese technology company that owns U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp., reported Thursday a fiscal first quarter profit of 254.2 billion yen ($2.4 billion), up 19 percent from the same period last year.
Healthy telecommunications operations in Japan offset losses at Sprint, helping lift quarterly sales 3 percent to 2.13 trillion yen ($20.3 billion). April-June 2015 profit had totaled 213.4 billion yen. The Tokyo-based company, the first to start selling the iPhone in Japan, did not give forecasts, citing uncertainty.
SoftBank announced earlier this month it’s buying Britain’s ARM Holdings for 24.3 billion pounds ($32 billion), in a deal the British government hailed as a vote of confidence, despite the decision to leave the European Union.
The move underlines SoftBank’s ambitions in the “Internet of Things,” or how various devices, including security cameras and household appliances, connect online and work together.
The deal, which SoftBank hopes to complete by the end of September, has a few steps pending. ARM shareholders, who have been advised by the board to accept the offer, and British courts still need to give their approval.