TOKYO (AP) - Softbank Corp., the sole carrier of Apple's iPhone in Japan, says quarterly profit surged also fivefold due to strong demand for smartphones.
The Tokyo-based company says net profit totaled 94.79 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in the first quarter of the fiscal year through March 2012. That compares to 19.44 billion yen during the same period last year.
Sales rose 9 percent to 764.2 billion yen and operating profit climbed 12 percent to 175.83 billion yen.
Its mobile business added a net 730,000 subscribers during the quarter.
Softbank did not release financial forecasts for the full fiscal year.