SoftBank's profits soar on sales growth, Sprint improvement

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese internet and energy company SoftBank Group Corp. is reporting a more than an 11-fold surge in profit for the fiscal third quarter thanks to strong sales and to improved results from U.S. carrier Sprint.

SoftBank, which also owns stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and British computer chip and software giant Arm, reported an October-December profit Wednesday of 912.3 billion yen ($8.4 billion), up from 80.3 billion yen a year earlier.

Quarterly sales rose 3.9 percent to 2.4 trillion yen ($22 billion).

The Tokyo-based company, which sells the Pepper robot, did not give annual forecasts, citing uncertainties, as is generally its policy.

SoftBank is buying a major stake in Uber. The first carrier to offer the Apple iPhone in Japan, it's a major telecommunications and technology company in Japan.