Japan’s Rakuten sees first quarterly net loss since 2013

Japanese online retailer Rakuten saw operating profit fall for the first time in more than two years in the quarter ended December as an impairment cost of nearly ¥25bn ate into earnings.

While revenue grew 9.6 per cent year on year to ¥222.6bn in the fourth quarter – besting a median estimate of ¥215.1bn from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg – the company also booked a one-off ¥24.3bn impairment cost, ¥21.4bn of which was on video streaming subsidiary Viki.

That helped drag down operating profit, which came in at ¥2.8bn for the quarter, falling far short of a median estimate of ¥33.6bn. The company reported a loss of ¥5.9bn for the period, the first quarterly loss since Q2 2013, where analysts had expected adjusted net income of ¥22.9bn.

Rakuten’s fintech segment saw profit rise 2.6 per cent last year to ¥65.6bn. However, profit at its main internet services segment fell 39% in the quarter ended December to ¥55.6bn, which the company attributed to “aggressive sales activities” and a high basis for comparison from stock gains the previous year.