Japan's Rakuten Group Suffers Record Net Loss of 372 B. Yen

Tokyo, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Rakuten Group Inc. <4755> on Tuesday reported a record group net loss of 372,884 million yen in 2022, far bigger than the year-before loss of 133,828 million yen.

The cybermall and mobile phone group incurred a net loss for the fourth straight year due chiefly to massive costs to build mobile phone base stations.

The company logged a loss of 492.8 billion yen on its mobile phone business, against the year-before loss of 421.1 billion yen.

The number of subscribers to its mobile phone service at the end of 2022 fell to 5.06 million from 5.37 million a year before after Rakuten abolished its zero-yen plan for those who use a low amount of data.

"This is going to be a crucial year," President Hiroshi Mikitani told an online press conference.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]