Japan tech giant SoftBank reports profit decline

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. has reported a 23 percent decline in fiscal third-quarter profit as adjustments in its major investment funds eroded income.

SoftBank Group, which has invested in British IoT company ARM and U.S. wireless company Sprint, reported Wednesday October-December profit of 698.3 billion yen ($6.4 billion), down from 912.3 billion yen in the same period the previous year.

Quarterly sales totaled 2.5 trillion yen ($23 billion), up 4 percent from 2.4 trillion yen.

SoftBank's investment funds called SoftBank Vision Fund had a positive effect on the overall operating profit for the latest fiscal quarter, thanks to the rise in value of its technology investments.

SoftBank did not give a fiscal year forecast, which has been standard practice for the Tokyo-based company.