SoftBank Group sees $5.2B loss in September quarter
In the initial half of the fiscal, SoftBank registered a loss of 1.41 trillion yen ($9.3 billion), a significant contrast to the 3 trillion yen profit recorded in the corresponding period the previous year.
Group reported a loss of 788.959 million yen ($5.22 billion) on Thursday for the quarter ending September 30, 2023, marking its fourth consecutive quarter incurring losses.
In the initial half of the fiscal year, SoftBank registered a loss of 1.41 trillion yen ($9.3 billion), a significant contrast to the 3 trillion yen profit recorded during the corresponding period of the previous year. The loss has been attributed to factors such as finance costs and foreign exchange losses of 650 billion yen due to a weaker yen. The Japanese conglomerate's net asset value grew by 6% to 16.4 trillion yen ($0.11 billion).
SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) 1 reported cumulative returns of $104.4 billion on $89.6 billion investments, resulting in a gross gain of $14.8 billion. During the period, SVF1 saw investment gains of $3.4 billion, with a significant portion coming from the sale of Arm shares to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.
However, SoftBank Vision Fund recorded a 583.3 billion yen ($3.86 billion) investment loss, excluding proceeds from the sale of shares in Arm. Private portfolio companies within SVF1 also saw a 4.6% decrease, primarily due to markdowns of certain underperforming companies.
On the other hand, SVF2 reported $31.5 billion in cumulative returns on $52.2 billion in investments, but recorded a gross loss of $20.7 billion. Investment losses amounted to $2.4 billion during the period.
The fair value of investments held by SVF2 decreased by 7.0% from the previous quarter-end. Public portfolio companies within SVF2 saw a significant decline of 28.9%, primarily due to share price decrease in companies like WeWork. Private portfolio companies within SVF2 also saw a 2.7% decline, mainly due to markdowns of weaker-performing companies.
Recently, SoftBank-backed ecommerce rollup startup GlobalBees posted a standalone loss of Rs 6.15 crore in financial year 2022-23.
Earlier, in September, the Japanese technology investor and OYO formed a joint venture (JV) to launch a premium hotel chain in India. The joint venture, called Mountainia, will launch 5-and 4-star hotels under the brand name ‘Sunday’ across fast-growing Tier II Indian cities.
