Japan's SoftBank third quarter profit slips 5.9 percent, dragged down by Sprint costs

By Teppei Kasai TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Corp said third-quarter operating profit slid nearly 6 percent, missing estimates, as the ambitious mobile telecom firm continues to soak up the cost of trying to turn around loss-making U.S. unit Sprint Corp. SoftBank, which launched a surprise takeover of the number 3 U.S. carrier for more than $20 billion in 2012, said on Tuesday its October-December operating profit was 191.4 billion yen (£1.04 billion), down from 203.4 billion yen a y