Rakuten’s Mobile Unit Lost $887 Million in First Quarter

Rakuten Group Inc., the Japanese e-commerce giant that launched a mobile service last year, reported a wider first-quarter loss in the business after it invested in expanding its network and offered a free year of service to attract users from incumbents.

The division’s loss increased to a record 97.2 billion yen ($887 million) on 68.6 billion yen of sales in the three months ended March 31, Rakuten said in a statement on Thursday. The company’s total operating loss was 37.3 billion yen in the period.