Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Ono, Yomiuri Shimbun: My second question is about the net loss. Is my understanding correct that the main reason, as in Q1, is the valuation loss due to the strong yen on perpetual subordinated bonds? Please confirm that point.

Hirose, CFO: At the operating income level, the cumulative six-month loss for this fiscal year is 6.6 billion yen, an improvement of 45 billion yen from the same period last year. On the other hand, financial income and expenses worsened  by 66.6 billion yen, which, as you pointed out, is the gain or loss on derivatives heding realated to perpetual bonds. Under IFRS perpetual bonds are treated as equity, so unrealized gains and losses do not impact the P/L, but onlythe derivative hedges are reflected.  

Kaufauftrag aufgeben und "Schwarz & Lang" als Handelsplatz angeben, dürfte er heute zwischen 17.00 Uhr und 19.00 Uhr zur  Ausführung kommen.

https://www.ls-tc.de/de/aktie/rakuten-aktie  

The progress of Rakuten Mobile

In the second quarter of 2025, Rakuten Mobile’s standalone EBITDA improved by 19.1 billion yen year-on-year, reaching 5.6 billion yen. Compared to the previous quarter, when we achieved our first quarterly profit, we were able to further expand the profit. We are making steady progress toward achieving full-year EBITDA profitability in 2025.

As for the number of subscribers, we surpassed 9 million subscribers on July 7th, and as of July 31st, we reached 9.08 million subscribers. Toward breaking the major milestone of 10 million, we aim to further accelerate the pace of net additions in the second half of the year.
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/

 

Finally, regarding the International Business Unit, revenue increased by 1.9% YoY to [USD]481 million, and non-GAAP operating income saw a significant increase of 52.1% YoY to USD10.2 million.

Within this, Rakuten Rewards has been affected by the trend of US companies reducing their marketing expenses. However, both revenue and profit have remained flat while implementing cost controls. Rakuten Viber is showing strong growth in both communication and advertising revenue as the market expands. In addition, Rakuten Viki has achieved increases in both revenue and profit, driven by the expansion of subscriptions and the enhancement of its content lineup.

Q2-2025-earnings-call-transcript
 

Rakuten Mobile significantly improved its earnings performance in the second quarter of the year, its numbers indicating that it is well on track for full-year EBITDA profitability.

August 8, 2025

A strong Q2 from the mobile operator was instrumental in driving group-level operating income for Rakuten for the first time in six years, the Japanese firm announced, showing the importance of that nascent MNO business as part of the bigger picture.

Rakuten Mobile reported EBITDA of 5.6 billion yen (US$38 million), which represents an increase of JPY19.1 billion from a negative position in the same quarter last year. Arguably more importantly, while it's not a huge sum of money for a telecoms operator, it's also a significant uplift on the JPY102 million (around US$700,000) that Rakuten Mobile posted in Q1, its first ever quarter of EBITDA profitability.

"Steady progress is being made towards achieving full-year EBITDA profitability in 2025," Rakuten said in its results announcement. And it's hard to argue with that.

The growth came on the back of an increase in the number of subscriptions and improved average revenue per user (ARPU), Rakuten said.

The operator has already trumpeted its customer growth for the quarter, having reached the 9 million subs milestone in early July.

But in the interests of comparison, it reported 8.97 million total subscriptions at the end of Q2, including MNO, MVNO and MVNE customers, a net increase of 390,000 over three months. As of the end of July, the total was up to 9.08 million.

Customer growth was driven by increased acquisitions and lower churn as a result of the end of the spring sales season and the impact of price changes by some operators, Rakuten said.

Net ARPU, a key indicator for its operating income and EBITDA profitability, came in at JPY2,474 ($16.7), an increase of JPY114 year-on-year.

https://www.telecoms.com/operator-ecosystem/...a-is-into-the-billions