Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group has reported $5.9 billion net loss in its third quarter that ended December 31, 2022.
SoftBank said it lost around $5.5 billion in its signature Vision Funds alone during the October-December period, reflecting declines in the share prices of a wide range of portfolio companies.
SoftBank Group lost $10 billion in the previous quarter (July-September 2022).
SoftBank Group said the fair value of its current late-stage portfolio is now more than $37 billion.
For the first time in decades, Masayoshi Son, founder and chief executive of SoftBank Group, skipped the analysts’ call.
At December-end, SoftBank said the fair value of the $100 billion Vision Fund I was down 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to The Financial Times. The valuation for investments in Vision Fund II was down 6.2 percent.
SoftBank said it’s taking a cautious approach to investing in the blockchain and crypto sector.
SoftBank in September announced to lay off at least 30 percent of employees at its loss-making Vision Fund.
In August, SoftBank Group revealed plans to sell nearly 242 million American depository receipts (ADRs) of Chinese behemoth Alibaba, which will help it gain 4.6 trillion yen ($34 billion) in pre-tax gain from the sale.
Investment bank Jefferies had predicted that SoftBank would need $40-45 billion of cash this year if it were to sustain.
