TOKYO—Japanese technology investor
SoftBank Group Corp.
9984 -8.03%
on Thursday reported the biggest annual loss in its four-decade history because of the global selloff in technology shares.
SoftBank, known for its $100 billion Vision Fund, reported a net loss of ¥1.71 trillion, equivalent to $13.2 billion, for the year that ended March 31. That was its biggest full-year loss, topping a record set two years ago, and followed a nearly ¥5 trillion net profit the previous fiscal year.
The company’s results tend to swing widely because they follow the volatile movements of the technology shares in which SoftBank has invested, including U.S. companies such as
Uber Technologies Inc.
UBER -4.65%
and
DoorDash Inc.
DASH -13.16%
Interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve and other central banks, as well as tighter Chinese government regulations on the tech industry, have weighed on valuations of high-growth tech stocks.
In the year ended March 31, SoftBank reported a loss of ¥3.74 trillion, equivalent to $29 billion, on investments at its Vision Fund 1, Vision Fund 2 and others.
The publicly listed stocks that compose much of the Vision Fund have fallen by more than half since the start of the year. Shares of Chinese ride-hailing leader
Didi Global Inc.,
in which the Vision Fund holds a stake, have fallen more than 80% since its debut on the New York Stock Exchange last summer. Didi is planning to delist from the NYSE.
Shares of e-commerce giant
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
, SoftBank Group’s most valuable holding, fell about 50% during the last fiscal year.
SoftBank’s shares fell 8% on Thursday in Tokyo trading, which ended before the release of the results. Thursday’s close of ¥4,491 was less than half the level a year ago.
Write to Megumi Fujikawa at [email protected]
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