All credit to SoftBank’s (9984.T) finance chief for trying to accentuate the positive. On Thursday, Yoshimitsu Goto said the Japanese conglomerate’s Vision Funds have “hit the bottom” after recording a second quarter of gains in a row. With the company run by Masayoshi Son starting to target new investments again, the improving performance would perhaps have been of some comfort to shareholders – if it weren’t for the broader 931 billion yen ($6.2 billion) loss for the three months to the end of September that sent the stock down 9% on Friday, the sharpest fall in a year.
SoftBank took more writedowns on WeWork and may have more to add after the office-space leasing company filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. The weakening currency lopped off 183 billion yen. And despite selling some stock in chipmaker Arm’s U.S. listing, the proceeds didn’t flow to the bottom line because as 90% owner, SoftBank books it as a consolidated subsidiary.
None of that should have been a surprise to investors. Taking such a big loss when analysts, per S&P Capital IQ, expected a $1.2 billion profit, though, was. Little wonder shareholders are still contemplating the abyss. (By Anshuman Daga)
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