TOKYO (Aug 7): Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group swung to a small net profit in the April-June quarter and unveiled plans to buy back up to US$3.4 billion in shares, answering investor calls for better returns.

It logged ¥10.4 billion (US$70.7 million) in net profit, better than a loss of ¥316.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.

But it missed expectations of ¥109 billion, according to an average of five analyst estimates compiled by LSEG and Reuters.

SoftBank announced it would buy back up to 6.8% of its own shares, worth as much as ¥500 billion. It plans to make the purchases over the next year.

  - Reuters