TBF, it would be idiotic but mostly amusing, if there wasn't an associated cost. But there now is, and it is soaring. Consolidated finance costs for the six months to September came to ¥791 billion, up from ¥340 billion a year ago. At the parent, interest expense hit ¥676 billion versus ¥269 billion. Part of that is the unamortized cost of the bridge loans, expensed in one go when they were repaid early, so yes, SoftBank paid up to get out of the loan it had paid up to get into. Tokyo strategist, Shinkin Asset Management's Kazuki Sawamura, told Bloomberg he is willing to look through the data center loss. The interest bill is another matter: “We can treat the loss from the review of the AI data center plans as temporary. The more worrying factor is the increase in financial costs. If investment income and the value of its holdings don’t grow steadily from here, the interest burden could squeeze earnings and heighten concern about SoftBank’s financial health.” The interest burden: