SoftBank has warned of a $12.5bn annual operating loss — its biggest ever — after its $100bn investment fund sustained a heavy hit from the market turmoil sparked by the coronavirus outbreak.
The Japanese group blamed a likely ¥1.8tn ($16.7bn) blow to its Saudi-backed technology fund on a “deteriorating market environment” which had devastated the value of founder Masayoshi Son’s biggest bets on start-ups.
The declines were amplified by a further ¥800bn writedown on SoftBank’s investments outside the Vision Fund, including at lossmaking office sharing group WeWork and OneWeb, the satellite internet start-up that filed for bankruptcy last month.