Softbank Corp. made a net loss of 783 billion yen in the third quarter, while the Vision Fund lost 730 billion in investment.
According to news in the afternoon of February 7, Beijing time, Softbank Corp. Group today released its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 ending December 31. Softbank Corp. posted a net loss of 783.415 billion yen (currently about 40.189 billion yuan) in the third quarter, compared with a net profit of 29.048 billion yen in the same period last year, according to the financial report.
Softbank Corp. 's vision fund lost 730.36 billion yen (currently about 37.467 billion yuan) on its investment in the third quarter, mainly because its portfolio startups continue to face the challenges of rising interest rates and a deteriorating global economic outlook. Overall, the vision fund division lost 660 billion yen in the third quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of losses.
Softbank Corp. 's net sales in the third quarter were 1.69 trillion yen (currently about 86.697 billion yuan), up 5.6% from 1.6 trillion yen a year earlier and higher than the average analyst estimate of 1.68 trillion yen. The net loss attributed to the shareholders of Softbank Corp. 's parent company was 783.415 billion yen (currently about 40.189 billion yuan), compared with a net profit of 29.048 billion yen in the same period last year.
In the first nine months of fiscal 2022, Softbank Corp. 's net sales were 4.88 trillion yen, compared with 4.58 trillion yen in the same period last year. The net loss attributable to shareholders of Softbank Corp. 's parent company was 912.513 billion yen, compared with a net profit of 392.617 billion yen in the same period last year.
"weakness in global stock markets remains the main risk for Softbank Corp.," said Kirk Boodry, an analyst at Redex Research, an investment research firm. Budley believes that if the planned ARM IPO is postponed, the current downturn in the technology market will continue to hurt Softbank Corp..
The successful listing of ARM is seen as the key to reviving Softbank Corp. 's investment activities. Son Masayoshi, founder of Softbank Corp., said in November that he would no longer attend Softbank Corp. 's conference call, including the earnings meeting later today, and instead focus on the ARM listing. ARM is expected to go public by the end of this year.
At present, ARM is still one of the few bright spots on Softbank Corp. 's balance sheet. ARM's net sales rose 3.7% in the first nine months of fiscal year 2022, which ended December 31.
