SoftBank Vision Fund posts record $17.7 billion loss

Tokyo, May 18 (IANS) Driven by fall in fair values of Uber, WeWork and its three affiliates in the fourth quarter primarily due to COVID-19, the Vision Fund business of Japan’s SoftBank Group on Monday recorded 1.9 trillion yen ($17.7 billion) loss last fiscal.

The three affiliates of WeWork are –WeWork China, WeWork Asia, and WeWork Japan.

In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal alone, SoftBank Vision Fund recorded an investment loss of 1.1 trillion yen.

“The timing for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is not clear, and thus it remains difficult to forecast the medium-term impact on the company’s business and financial results,” the company said.

“However, the Company’s investment businesses, particularly SoftBank Vision Fund, have already been adversely affected, with SoftBank Vision Fund recording an investment loss of 1.1 yen trillion in the fourth quarter due to a decline in the fair values of its investments,” it added.

For SoftBank Corp., the company expects no significant impact on telecommunication business at this point.

The Tokyo-based conglomerate posted an overall operating loss of around 1.36 trillion yen in the fiscal year ending March 31 and a net loss of 961.6 billion yen.

The fair value of WeWork’s entire equity decreased to $7.8 billion as of September 30, 2019, reflecting the company’s withdrawal of its public offering plan and a significant revision of its business plan, as well as an agreement between SoftBank and WeWork on October 22, 2019.

Meanwhile, Alibaba Co-founder Jack Ma has stepped down from the board of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group after serving it for nearly 13 years, the company announced.

The heavily indebted SoftBank did not give any reason but Ma has slowly been moving away from daily roles towards deeper philanthropic work.

–IANS

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