Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Rakuten Bank, Ltd. (5838.T)

5,680.00
+700.00
(+14.06%)
Day's Range5,256.00 - 5,680.00
52 Week Range2,465.00 - 5,680.00
Volume 4,376,900
Avg. Volume 1,330,174
Market Cap (intraday) 991.058B

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/5838.T/

 

Rakuten Bank Reports Strong Financial Growth for 2024

The latest announcement is out from Rakuten Bank, Ltd.

Rakuten Bank, Ltd. reported consolidated financial results for the nine months ending December 31, 2024, showing significant growth with a 30.3% increase in ordinary income and a 40.4% rise in ordinary profit compared to the previous year. This performance highlights the bank’s strong position in the industry and its successful strategies, which may positively impact its stakeholders and market presence.

https://www.tipranks.com/news/...rts-strong-financial-growth-for-2024
 

The first Trump administration ultimately secured $1.5 billion for open RAN in the US. Now, at the beginning of the second Trump administration, many are hoping for the same or better.

Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies
January 13, 2025

https://www.lightreading.com/open-ran/...-resurgence-during-trump-2-0
 

Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
February 12, 2025

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has received P168 million (¥444 million) from Japan to set up an Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) system in the University of the Philippines — a grant that aims to eventually advance the development of open-access 5G technology in the country.

"The project is expected to establish an environment to deploy Open RAN leading to increased competition in the base station market, which will lead to lower costs in the deployment and operation of 5G networks, as well as stimulate innovation, in the Philippines," the embassy said.

https://qa.philstar.com/headlines/2025/02/12/...%2520the%2520country.
 

Revenue increased across all segments, including Internet Services, FinTech, and Mobile, resulting in record-high full-year revenue of JPY 2.28 tn for FY 2024 (+10.0% YoY)

In addition to revenue growth, significant profit improvements in Rakuten Mobile and cost optimization efforts at the group level led to a Non-GAAP OI of JPY 7.0 bn (JPY +160.1 bn YoY) and IFRS OI of JPY 53.0 bn (JPY +265.8 bn YoY), achieving full-year consolidated profitability for the first time since 2019. EBITDA profit was JPY 326.0 bn (+ 120.0% YoY)

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/
 

 

 

 

Rakuten Mobile achieved profitability in the final month of 2024 five years after launch, with chair Mickey Mikitani targeting full-year EBITDA to turn positive in 2025, driven by subscriber and ARPU gains.

The operator’s EBITDA in December hit JPY2.3 billion ($15.1 million). The figure for the full-year dropped by JPY98.7 billion from a year ago to a loss of JPY53.8 billion.

Mikitani attributed the move to profit to strong subscriber acquisition and increased ARPU due to improved network quality, as well as ongoing cost control and rising ad revenue.
He added Rakuten Mobile will be “a driving force” for the group’s future growth, accounting for 34.4 per cent of consolidated revenue growth in 2024.

Mikitani noted it covered annual capital needs without relying on new debt for the group. Capex fell from JPY169 billion in 2023 to JPY81 billion last year. The company noted some investments were postponed to 2025, with the outlay forecast to climb to JPY150 billion.

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/rakuten/...%28%2415.1%2520million%29.
 

After five years of losses Rakuten Mobile hits positive territory – but the Japanese telco still has a mountain of debt.

Robert Clark, Contributing Editor
February 14, 2025

Rakuten Mobile is aiming for full-year EBITDA profitability this year after eking out its first positive monthly result.

The unit recorded positive EBITDA of 100 million Japanese yen (US$650,000) in December, its first since it started service in April 2020.

It hiked full-year revenue by 26% to JPY284 billion ($1.9 billion) and shaved its operating loss by more than a quarter, but still posted a deficit of JPY216 billion ($1.4 billion).

It achieved JPY2.3 billion ($15.1 million) positive EBITDA in December, with full-year revenue up 21% to JPY441 billion ($2.9 billion).

Rakuten says after years of borrowing to grow the mobile business it achieved self-funding last year and is now able to keep it afloat without taking on more debt.

Its mobile unit has some hefty liabilities which, of course, aren't reflected in EBITDA numbers. It reported outstanding debt of JPY1.13 trillion ($7.4 billion) at December 31, along with JPY207 billion ($1.4 billion) in lease obligations and JPY328 billion in other liabilities. Gross assets totaled JPY1.92 trillion ($12.6 billion).

https://www.lightreading.com/finance/...first-ebitda-profit-this-year
 

February 13, 2025

Kyivstar made progress on its open RAN ambitions, announcing the launch of a laboratory test in Ukraine in partnership with Rakuten Symphony as part of ongoing efforts to rebuild the country’s digital infrastructure.

Veon-owned Kyivstar stated it will test Rakuten Symphony’s cloud-native RAN software in a controlled laboratory environment.

The companies explained the testing process is intended to shape Ukraine’s long-term digital infrastructure strategy, as Kyivstar continues its push for an open and robust mobile network for its 24 million subscribers.

The development comes after Veon and Rakuten Symphony signed an agreement in 2023 to jointly rebuild Ukraine’s telecoms infrastructure in the aftermath of its ongoing war with Russia. The companies pledged to invest in digital services and open RAN in a commitment to re-establish network infrastructure in the country.

Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of Veon, described the testing phase as a “critical milestone” in the digital recovery efforts and expressed ambitions to further expand the companies’ partnership beyond the current project.

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/europe/...en-gain-ground-on-open-ran/

 

Rakuten Symphony with $558.3 million revenues in 2025

Symphony finished the year strongly, recording JPY42 billion ($276 million) in sales in Q4, nearly half its full-year total of JPY85 billion ($558.3 million), a 62% leap over 2023. The company has begun lab trials with Ukraine's Kyivstar and has just signed an MoU for trials with Telkom Kenya.

https://www.lightreading.com/finance/...first-ebitda-profit-this-year
 

Rakuten Mobile hits break-even but growth is still slow

By Ray Le Maistre
Feb 14, 2025

Rakuten Mobile is still Japan’s telco minnow, with about 7.5 million retail subscribers.

But its numbers are heading in the right direction and it has just hit break-even, according to its parent company.

Rakuten Symphony, the mobile operator’s vendor offshoot, struck a positive note with a 62% rise in annual revenues.

The mobile journey of Japanese digital conglomerate Rakuten Group continues to be a fascinating one, as its Rakuten Mobile operation battles for financial stability and for slivers of market share as it competes against a trio of telco giants in Japan. Meanwhile, the mobile operator’s vendor offshoot, Rakuten Symphony, is plying its trade across the world and has just reported its best ever quarter of revenues.

Rakuten Group expects its mobile operator to achieve full year EBITDA profitability in 2025.
Rakuten Mobile ended 2024 with 8.3 million customers in total, though this number includes mobile virtual network operator/enabler customers: Strip those out and Rakuten Mobile ended last year with 7.46 million mobile service customers, up from 5.9 million at the end of 2023.

https://www.telecomtv.com/content/5g/...t-growth-is-still-slow-52342/
 

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/...ts-Highlights-49058395/
 

 

 

Ambitious full-year targets fulfilled: Rakuten presents FY2024 and Q4 financial results

Rakuten successfully achieved all three of the key financial targets set at the start of 2024: Full-year consolidated Non-GAAP operating income profitability, monthly EBITDA profitability for Rakuten Mobile, and self-funding at the Group level.  

https://rakuten.today/blog/...ts-fy2024-and-q4-financial-results.html
 

Rakuten Mobile is the only company in the world that has achieved a fully virtualized network. We are now actively selling and integrating the software that supports this virtualized network overseas.
As for new projects, this week, we have already started experiments with Kyivstar in Ukraine. Moving forward, we are progressing toward a project to deploy O-RAN across the entire country of Ukraine.

On January 25, we also began similar initiatives in Kenya.

Additionally, we are providing a cloud and operating support software service called Robin.io to one of the major telecommunications companies in the United States, in a highly exclusive manner.

To draw a comparison, just as Amazon has externalized its cloud technology developed through its e-commerce business, Rakuten Mobile is selling its technology through Rakuten Symphony.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/...l-Transcripts-49072747/
 

We will focus on generating profits by selling our software overseas through Rakuten Symphony. This could potentially become a core business for the Rakuten Group.

24Q4 Q&A
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/
 

Since our international business has also become profitable, we will continue to strengthen this area as well.

24Q4 Q&A
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/
 

17 Feb 2025

Arab Advisors Group organized the Rakuten Symphony VIP dinner in Dubai, the UAE, bringing together CXOs from leading telecom operators for an evening of insightful discussions and valuable connections.

https://arabadvisors.com/news/rakuten-symphony-vip-dinner-2
 

Primary focus is on reaching 10 million subscribers

This is Matsuda from the Nikkei. I have two questions. First, could you share your thoughts on Rakuten Mobile achieving monthly profitability?

While I cannot promise that EBITDA will be positive every month from the start, our goal of achieving full-year profitability this year is highly feasible. As for this year’s outlook, our primary focus is on reaching 10 million subscribers. One strategy is to strengthen our approach to older demographics and regional areas, where we are relatively weak, while maintaining our strong position among younger users in urban areas.

24Q4 Q&A
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/investors/
 

Nissan’s five-year CDS is about 216 basis points, SoftBank is around 210 basis points and Rakuten is about 201 basis points, according to CMA data compiled by Bloomberg on Feb. 17.

Nissan’s topped the Japan CDS rankings at a time when Rakuten’s spreads tightened on the back of improved earnings from its mobile operations.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...-rises-highest-japan-084510878.html
 

Viber expands into dating, says e-wallet coming soon

Published Feb 18, 2025

MANILA -- Messaging app Viber aims to become a super app as it expands into the dating scene with Viber Dating. Soon, it will also launch an e-wallet platform.

Rakuten Viber CEO Ofir Eyal said the idea is to go beyond messaging. It unveiled Viber Dating, saying users of dating apps would eventually transfer to messaging apps after they matched. But with this new feature, it's all in one app.

This service was partly developed in the Philippines, which is among Viber's top markets.

Soon, Viber will add more features like QRPH payments, credit and debit cards, and international remittances. It is now processing licenses and permits with various regulators and agencies.
About a million users are pre-registered with the ViberPay service.

Eyal did not disclose the number of users they have in the Philippines, but said the country is among their top 5 markets. He expects more users this year as they add new services going beyond messaging.

https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/2/18/...coming-soon-1645