SoftBank is facing headwinds in its Vision Fund investment arm as valuations of technology companies fall amid rising interest rates.
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Softbank The company’s Vision Fund posted record losses after the recent rally in tech stocks did little to set off another difficult year for its flagship investment unit.
The Vision Fund segment of Japan’s leading corporates posted a loss of ¥4.3 trillion ($32 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31.
SoftBank lost ¥5.28 trillion on its entire investment in the Vision Funds, compared with ¥3.43 trillion a year earlier. Overall, they’re still lower than they were a year ago, despite this year’s gains in tech stocks.tech heavy Nasdaq 100 The index fell about 11% during SoftBank’s fiscal year.
Overall, SoftBank posted a net loss of 970.14 billion yen for the fiscal year, narrower than a loss of 1.7 trillion yen in the same period last year.
Despite gaining on investments in high-profile companies like ride-hailing company Uber, SoftBank has suffered losses in areas such as the shares of Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime and Indonesian ride-hailing and e-commerce company GoTo. said to have recorded.
Over the past year, SoftBank has Exiting some of our most high-profile investments raise cash. Sold T-Mobile shares to narrow overall loss. AlibabaAfter Son made his fortune with an early investment in Alibaba more than 20 years ago, the company has continued to sell some stakes in the latter company via derivatives called forward contracts.
In August, it announced that it had sold its remaining stake in the U.S. ride-hailing giant. uber.
The brainchild of founder Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s Vision Fund, which consists of Vision Fund 1 and Vision Fund 2, invests in high-growth stocks that face headwinds from rising global interest rates, and invests in riskier stocks such as technology. sold the stock.
SoftBank chief Rajeev Misra, Son’s key ally, amid mounting losses retired from some of his roles in the companyMisra was an early contributor to the Vision Fund, which launched in 2017.
“Defense” mode
about a year ago, Son says SoftBank will go into ‘defensive’ mode In headwinds, we become more disciplined in our investments.
The tactic appeared to work in SoftBank’s fiscal fourth quarter from January to March, aided by a rally in tech stocks. SoftBank’s Vision Funds recorded an investment loss of 236.8 billion yen for him this quarter, compared to his 730.3 billion yen in the previous quarter.
SoftBank said it made $3.14 billion in new or additional investments in the fiscal year, down from $44.26 billion in the same period last year.
