Japan's Softbank reports huge drop in quarterly earnings

Softbank, an Internet services company and mobile phone carrier in Japan, said its net profit fell 66% in the most recent quarter due to hefty sales promotion costs, an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Press report said net income totaled 7.494 billion yen ($61.93 million) in the October-December period, down sharply from 22 billion yen ($181 million) in the same period a year before.

Softbank, which acquired Vodafone Group's Japan unit last April, said sales more than doubled to 702.19 billion yen ($5.80 billion) from 287.47 billion yen ($2.36 billion) a year before, the report said.

Despite the jump in sales, higher costs for promoting its broadband Internet services and mobile phones eroded earnings, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son told reporters.

'A variety of sales campaign costs are affecting our earnings,' Son was quoted as saying.

During the latest period, Softbank spent 227.30 billion yen ($1.88 billion) in marketing expenses and other general administrative costs, up from 79.40 billion yen ($651 million) disbursed the same period a year earlier.