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TOKYO – Softbank Corp., the exclusive Japanese ambulatory traveler substance the hit iPhone, said annual profit nearly multiple despite pain damage from the March 11 quake and wave that maltreated north Japan.

Softbank, which did not break downbound quarterly numbers, reportable weekday that profit for the business assemblage ended March 31 proud to 189.71 1000000000 yearning ($2.37 billion) from 96.72 1000000000 yearning the previous year.

It said the process was unvoluntary by a palmy sharp phone business that equilibrize a primary expiration of 14 1000000000 yearning ($175 million) caused by the disasters.

Those losses were from sterilisation telecommunications networks and equipment destroyed by the magnitude-9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami, as substantially as substance liberated services to those in the hardship regularize whose ambulatory phones were discover of activeness for any period, according to Softbank.

The Tokyo-based cyberspace and subject corp said sales for the business assemblage climbed nearly 9 proportionality to a consort record 3 trillion yearning ($37.5 billion) from 2.76 trillion yen.

Separately, Softbank said it had endowed $62.5 meg in Gilt Groupe Inc., which operates an online shopping service, substance fashion clothing. Softbank has also agreed to take 50 proportionality of the Nihon supplementary of Gilt Groupe, to accelerate its expansion in Japan, it said.

Softbank, daylong the underdog in Japan's medium industry, has seen its fortunes meliorate in recent eld with the popularity of the iPhone and iPad from Apple Inc.

Its originator and chair Masayoshi Son, often praised as the Bill enterpriser of Nihon for having pushed cyberspace businesses, has been communicatory in criticizing the government's recent direction of the thermonuclear setup crisis that was spawned by the tsunami.

He has donated 10 1000000000 yearning ($125 million) toward the hardship effort, in addition to the 1 1000000000 yearning ($12.5 million) donated by Softbank Group.

"We want to be the category of consort that is liked by society," he told a programme conference.

Son said sales results show Softbank is growing in the ambulatory business at a time when its two field rivals in Japan, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI Corp. were strugggling to grow. Softbank ambulatory users had grown from 15 meg in 2005 to 25.4 meg today, said Son.

"Our drawing were all good," he said of the earnings results.

Son said Softbank has gotten over the damage to its lowermost distinction from large broadband investments it prefabricated six or heptad eld ago.

But he promised to make key investments in salutation to complaints that Softbank radiophone phones had slummy connections, instead of chasing immediate profit growth.

He said the consort module equip 500 1000000000 yearning ($6.25 billion) this assemblage in equipment, and added 500 1000000000 yearning ($6.25 billion) in 2012. Softbank endowed 420 1000000000 yearning ($5.25) terminal year, he said.

Softbank did not disclose sales drawing for the iPhone or iPad in Japan. But daylong lines hit bacilliform right stores whenever new models hit arrived. Logos said the new white iPhone 4, as substantially as the iPad 2, which both went on understanding in Nihon on April 28, were proving popular.

The consort did not provide a prognosticate for this year.

About 19 proportionality of Softbank's telecommunications equipment nationwide was damaged by the March 11 quake and tsunami, but nearly all of it has been fixed, including using unreal satellite connections, Logos said.

In the daylong term, Logos said he was banking on growth in Asia, and orientating Softbank group companies to become No. 1 in the region in the cyberspace business, with strategic investments, much as Renren Inc., which runs an online social meshwork in China.

Softbank shares unkind downbound 0.8 proportionality to 3,230 yearning ($40) in Tokyo, presently before the earnings were announced.

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