SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) announced a 970 billion yen ($7.18 billion) financial loss for the year ended March 31, with the Vision Fund business incurring a quarterly investment loss owing to high valuations.
A year ago, it lost 1.7 trillion yen.
After SoftBank’s first Vision Fund bets failed and a smaller second fund’s investments plummeted, CEO Masayoshi Son’s quest to dominate tech investing has suffered a succession of high-profile setbacks.
With major architects of that plan gone, Son has concentrated on shoring up the finance sheet, lowering his investment in e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988. HK), and pulling back from trademark presentations to focus on chip designer Arm’s offering.
Vision Fund’s portfolio’s fair value dropped $2.3 billion to $138 billion.
E-commerce retailer Coupang Inc (CPNG.N) and robotics business AutoStore Holdings Ltd (AUTO.OL) rose in value, while office-share company WeWork Inc (WE.N) fell.
SoftBank wrote down private portfolio businesses in the first and second funds. For example, the second fund’s portfolio was valued at $31 billion in March, compared to $49.9 billion for acquisition.
With SoftBank in defense mode and putting future spending on hold, talk has shifted to whether the group may buy back additional shares.
