SoftBank reports record quarterly loss of 23 billion euros
The group, which had already suffered a record full-year net loss for the 2021/22 fiscal year ended March 31, announced a negative net result of 3,162.7 billion yen for the April-June period.
Japanese technology investment giant SoftBank Group suffered a record quarterly net loss in the first quarter of its fiscal 2022/23 and continued to suffer from the impact of the global decline in technology stocks.
The group, which had already suffered a record full-year net loss for the 2021/22 fiscal year ended March 31, announced a negative net result of 3,162.7 billion yen (almost 23 billion euros) for the April-June period, with profit of 761.5 billion yen a year earlier.
SoftBank’s first quarter of 2022/23 was marked by significant investment losses (more than 2.8 trillion yen or 20 billion euros), mainly related to the Vision Fund 1 and 2 funds.
“Be on the defensive”
These are “a reflection of the global downward trend in stocks amid growing concerns about an economic recession caused by inflation and rising interest rates,” he wrote in a statement.
The group cited some of its investments as the source of its biggest losses, including South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime and US grocery delivery company DoorDash.
SoftBank has been plagued by market volatility since its CEO-founder Masayoshi Son rebalanced its business model in 2017 toward a financial holding company specializing in technology investments.
Last May, Mr Son noted that economic conditions encouraged people to “be on the defensive” when it came to investing, which meant his group was now “more selective”.
Klarna fights
SoftBank’s problems also come from the hundreds of unlisted companies in which it owns shares, whose values, which are more difficult to estimate, are often known during fundraising.
As a result, Swedish unicorn Klarna, a payment deferral specialist in which SoftBank has invested heavily in 2021, posted an 85% year-on-year valuation loss last month amid the global economic deterioration.
As usual, SoftBank Group did not release full-year 2022/23 earnings guidance, “difficult to predict due to numerous uncertainties affecting results.”
The value of shares in SoftBank Group on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is up 4% year-to-date but is down 46% since its peak in March 2021.
