SoftBank records $45.8b annual profit after Coupang IPO

Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group announced it has recorded an annual net profit of 4.9 trillion yen (US$45.8 billion), driven by an investment gain from the US listing of ecommerce firm Coupang in March.

Masayoshi Son / Photo credit: @SoftBank.

The boost from the blockbuster IPO makes SoftBank the world’s third most profitable company after Apple and Saudi Aramco. It also marks the biggest annual earnings ever by a Japanese firm.

For Q4 2020, SoftBank posted 1.9 trillion yen (US$17.8 billion) in net profit, up from  a 1.44 trillion yen (US$13.23 billion) quarterly loss in the previous corresponding period.

The company’s shares tumbled by over 3% on Wednesday ahead of the annual earnings announcement, following a dip in shares in Alibaba and Coupang on US exchanges.

Coupang offered 120 million new shares for US$27 to US$30 apiece as part of its public listing, potentially pushing the value of the firm to over US$50 billion. The company claims to be the largest ecommerce player in South Korea, which has invested billions of dollars to build its own inventory selection, technology, and business-to-customer logistics.

Vision Fund, SoftBank’s main investment vehicle, also rebounded from a loss a year earlier, recording a profit of 844 billion yen (US$8 billion) for Q3 2020.

The rebound was pushed by US food delivery app DoorDash’s blockbuster debut on the US stock market, along with SoftBank’s investment in Chinese online property site Beike, which helped offset a US$2.7 billion derivative loss from the Japanese conglomerate’s trading unit SB Northstar.

SoftBank also said it has nearly completed its 2.5 trillion yen (US$22.9 billion) share buyback program.