Rakuten turns its first profit in six years as the mobile drag eases

After years of bleeding cash into a mobile network, Rakuten has finally clawed its way back to profit.

The Japanese internet group posted its first quarterly net income in six years, a milestone that suggests its long, expensive gamble may at last be turning a corner.

The headline number is modest but symbolically large. Net income attributable to the parent came in at ¥7.7bn, a swing of nearly ¥59bn from a year earlier, and the group recorded its first quarterly pre-tax profit in eight years alongside it.

What pulled Rakuten into the black was its older, sturdier businesses rather than the flashy one. Group revenue rose 11.6% to ¥665.5bn, and non-GAAP operating income more than doubled, driven by the twin engines of e-commerce and finance.

E-commerce remains the heart of the company. Its domestic online marketplace turned over ¥1.53tn in goods, up 5.3%, the kind of steady, high-volume trade that has anchored Rakuten since long before it ever dreamed of running a phone network.