SoftBank Group recorded its first profit in three quarters during its fiscal Q2 2022 (ending 30 September), as a sale of part of its holdings in Alibaba Group offset a huge loss from its Vision Fund investments, which were again hit by declines in global tech shares.

Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said the earnings call would likely be his last for SoftBank as he turns his focus to drive growth at UK-based Arm, which is looking to be listed after a sale to Nvidia fell apart.

SoftBank’s profit rose to JPY3 trillion ($21.5 billion) from a JPY398 billion loss in the same period of 2021. Its Vision Funds reported an investment loss of JPY1.4 trillion, up from JPY1.2 trillion.

Net sales rose 7.3 per cent to JPY1.6 trillion.

Revenue from chip designer Arm increased 4.4 per cent to JPY91 billion, with royalty revenue hitting a record and strong demand for technology licences, the company stated.

SoftBank gained JPY4.6 trillion from the sale of Alibaba shares in August. It continues to hold a 9.9 per cent stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant.

It recently completed a JPY1.4 trillion stock buy-back programme which boosted its share price over the past quarter.

The group posted a record loss of JPY3.1 trillion in fiscal Q1.