SoftBank's profit zooms 12-fold in quarterly results on Sprint turnaround

Tokyo: Japanese internet, robot and solar company SoftBank Group is reporting a 12-fold climb in quarterly profit, boosted by a turnaround at its U.S. mobile unit Sprint, which had dragged earning previously.

Tokyo-based SoftBank reported Wednesday January-March profit of 580.5 billion yen ($5.1 billion), up dramatically from 45.2 billion yen the same period the previous year.

Quarterly sales rose nearly 2 percent to 2.32 trillion yen ($20 billion).

For the year through March 2017, SoftBank, which acquired Britain's ARM Holdings, an innovator in the "internet of things," last year, reported 1.4 trillion yen ($12.5 billion) in profit, tripling from 474 billion yen the previous fiscal year.

The company, founded in 1981, also has within its sprawling investment empire financial-technology and ride-booking services. It also sells the Pepper human-shaped companion robot.