SoftBank swings to a ¥1.12 trillion quarterly loss, and its US data-centre business books a ¥597.2bn loss after changing plans to buy power equipment, CNBC and Jiji report

SoftBank Group reported a fiscal second-quarter net loss of ¥1.12 trillion on 10 November, against a net profit of ¥2.5 trillion a year earlier, CNBC reported. Jiji, via Nippon.com, puts the April–September net loss at ¥768bn. SoftBank's own financial report is an encrypted PDF that would not open here, so these are the outlets' figures.

Both outlets report that SoftBank's US data-centre business booked a loss of ¥597.2bn, which CNBC says is for the six months to 30 September, after changes to its plans to buy power-generation equipment. CNBC says SoftBank's payments for that equipment had reached $9.48bn by the end of September. “We made bridge investments in advance to secure power generation equipment in anticipation of shortage,” a SoftBank executive said on the earnings call, according to CNBC.

CNBC also reports that SoftBank has invested $54.6bn in OpenAI, a stake it values at $99.6bn. Shares of GE Vernova, which makes gas turbines and grid equipment, were down close to 7% in the morning following SoftBank's revisions to its power-equipment procurement, CNBC's movers page said.

The charge is tied directly to the rush to secure power for AI data centres, and comes the day after the Switchboard ran Anthropic's reported $3.4bn purchase of gas generators.

• Reported Fiscal second-quarter net loss of ¥1.12 trillion against a ¥2.5 trillion profit a year earlier, CNBC reported. CNBC
• Reported The US data-centre business booked a ¥597.2bn loss after changing its power-equipment purchase plans, Jiji reports via Nippon.com, with an April–September net loss of ¥768bn. Nippon.com (Jiji)
• Reported GE Vernova shares were down close to 7% after SoftBank's revisions to its power-equipment procurement, CNBC reported. CNBC