The Japanese cell operator and tech investor SoftBank has performed much better in the past quarter than expected. The American daughter company Sprint did well. Investors are worried about rates in Japan and ties with Saudi Arabia.
The operating profit of SoftBank came out on 706 billion yen, converted approximately 5.5 billion euro. Of it came to 393 billion in technology investments, and 313 billion from all other divisions. The average expectation of analysts by news agency Bloomberg was collected was 373 billion yen.
Yet there are dark clouds on the horizon for the Japanese. The expected proceeds from the IPO of the Japanese telecom branch in December are uncertain as major competitor NTT Docomo lowers its rates to 40 percent. As a result, the shares in Japanese telecom providers have gone on sale.
Also questions remain about the ties with Saudi Arabia after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That country has invested 45 billion dollars in SoftBank. The close ties of CEO Masayoshi Son with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman are since the murder of Khashoggi under a magnifying glass.
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