SoftBank Corp’s bottom-line was hit by weakness in ARPU in its fiscal Q2 2022 (ending 30 September) and it forecast continued declines in mobile to be offset by growth in non-telecoms operations.

President and CEO Junichi Miyakawa (pictured) said on an earnings call SoftBank Corp projects the impact of ongoing ARPU cuts to decline significantly after they bottom out at end-March 2023.

To improve profitability in fiscal 2023, Miyakawa said capex will be reduced by JPY100 billion ($677 million).

Mobile service revenue in the recent quarter dropped 2.8 per cent year-on-year to JPY392.5 billion and ARPU 5.1 per cent to JPY3,880. Equipment sales were up 2.1 per cent to JPY140.8 billion.

The operator added 2.3 million mobile subscribers to take its total to 50.4 million.

Revenue from its Yahoo and Line units increased 4.4 per cent to JPY394.3 billion, and its distribution business grew 19.8 per cent to JPY142.7 billion.

Enterprise sales rose 3.7 per cent to JPY186 billion.

Net profit fell to JPY108.6 billion from JPY156.3 billion. Consolidated revenue grew 5.7 per cent to JPY1.4 trillion.

The company raised its full-year profit guidance from JPY530 billion to JPY540 billion and maintained a revenue target of JPY5.9 trillion.

SoftBank Corp increased fiscal H1 capex by JPY38.2 billion to JPY337.4 billion to fund continued rollout of 5G infrastructure and the renewal of contracts for co-location services.