SoftBank Group Suffers 910-B.-Yen Net Loss in April-Dec.

Tokyo, Feb. 7 (Jiji Press)--SoftBank Group Corp. <9984> said Tuesday that it plunged into a consolidated net loss of 912,513 million yen in April-December 2022, against a profit of 392,617 million yen a year before.

The large loss in the first three quarters of fiscal 2022 came as the group's mainstay SoftBank Vision Fund business, which invests in emerging firms, remained sluggish amid faltering global stock prices.

SoftBank Vision Fund's investment losses exceeded 5 trillion yen, due to valuation losses on companies including Chinese facial recognition technology startup SenseTime Group Inc. and Indonesian technology firm PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk.

SoftBank Group has reduced the fund's staff by 30 pct amid the deteriorating investment environment since last year. It is now prioritizing financial discipline, drastically curbing new investments.

At an earnings briefing in Tokyo the same day, SoftBank Group Senior Vice President Yoshimitsu Goto stressed that the company has plenty of cash on hand.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]