SoftBank's Vision Fund posts fourth straight quarter of losses as tech slump hits Japanese giant

SoftBank's flagship concern limb the Vision Fund posted its 4th consecutive quarterly nonaccomplishment connected Tuesday arsenic a slump successful exertion valuations continues to deed the Japanese giant.

The Vision Fund conception posted a pre-tax nonaccomplishment of 660 cardinal Japanese yen ($5 billion) for the December quarter. SoftBank's Vision Fund's nonaccomplishment connected investments came successful astatine 730.35 cardinal yen implicit the three-month period.

SoftBank Group wide reported a nett nonaccomplishment of 783.4 cardinal yen, sinking backmost to a quarterly nonaccomplishment aft posting a profit successful the July-to-September quarter.

It has been a pugnacious clip for SoftBank whose Vision Fund has stakes successful a scope of tech companies, from start-ups to listed behemoths, amid a monolithic driblet successful exertion valuations implicit the past year.

SoftBank said immoderate of the large losses successful the past 4th were owed to an "overall alteration successful the just worth of portfolio companies, chiefly reflecting markdowns of weaker-performing companies and stock terms declines successful marketplace comparable companies."

Some of SoftBank's worst-performing investments see Chinese artificial quality steadfast SenseTime, which is down 57% implicit the past year, and Indonesian exertion radical GoTo, which has seen its shares plummet implicit 65%.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's outspoken laminitis and the mastermind down the Vision Fund, said successful May that the institution would spell into "defense" mode and beryllium much "conservative" with the gait of investments aft the portion posted a record 3.5 trillion Japanese yen nonaccomplishment for past fiscal year.

SoftBank said that it made conscionable $2.76 cardinal successful caller and follow-on investments successful the 9 months to Dec. 31, a "significant reduction" from $39.24 cardinal successful 2021.

Over the past year, SoftBank has been exiting immoderate of its highest-profile investments to rise cash. In August, it said it had sold its remaining involvement successful U.S. ride-hailing elephantine Uber. And past year, it sold immoderate of its Alibaba shares via a derivative called a guardant contract. Son made his luck with an aboriginal concern successful Alibaba much than 2 decades ago. 

Son, who is known for his colourful capitalist presentations, was not contiguous connected the company's net telephone Tuesday.

The SoftBank CEO is presently focused connected trying to propulsion disconnected a nationalist listing of ARM, the British spot decorator it bought successful 2016.