TOKYO, Aug 7 Reuters Japan39;s SoftBank Group is likely to report a return to profit when it announces firstquarter earnings on Tuesday, analysts said, as its Vision Fund investing arm39;s portfolio of technology stocks enjoyed a rebound.

The tech investor has posted two consecutive years of loss on the slumping value of the Vision Fund portfolio and sold down its crownjewel stake in Chinese ecommerce firm Alibaba Group Holding to bolster its balance sheet.

A return to profit could ease pressure on founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who shook up the tech investing world with aggressive bets on latestage startups but suffered a series of highprofile stumbles as investments underpeformed.

Investors will also be looking for updates on the potential blockbuster listing of portfolio chip designer Arm, which if successful would provide a further cash injection for the group and burnish Son39;s credentials as a farsighted tech investor.

It39;s a major catalyst for the company and a very important event for tech as a whole, considering Arm39;s important position in semiconductors, said analyst Rolf Bulk at New Street Research.

SoftBank is set to post net profit of 75 billion yen 525 million for AprilJune, showed the average of four analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

Its Vision Fund unit has booked five consecutive quarters of investment loss after backing highgrowth firms which fell out of favour with the market, forcing the conglomerate into a defensive stance to…