The Japanese conglomerate announced a historic loss of 12.5 billion euros in the financial year 2021.
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Since Masayoshi Son, the big boss of Softbank, decided to concentrate the efforts of the Japanese conglomerate on investment in technological values, the group’s performance is Yoyo. And not in low measurements. Thursday, May 12, he reported a historic loss of 1,708 billion yen (12.5 billion euros) for the year 2021. This will not fail to feed the comments on the intuitions of the manager.
In 2020, he was doomed to gemonies when SoftBank announced losses of 1,000 billion yen (7.5 billion euros). The following year, the same people who had conspired him beat their coulpe in the face of the impressive results of the company, with a historic benefit of 5,000 billion yen.
In the presentation of the results announced this day, Softbank highlights all the elements of external context: “a world in chaos” struck by the COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, the rise in oil prices, of the gas, cereals, the degradation of the yen price, the increase in interest rates. In fact, in a climate of uncertainty, technological values are currently the subject of the distrust of investors, as evidenced by the fall in the courses recorded this year by the Nasdaq, including by the biggest players (Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, etc.).
Softbank is also penalized by its bets on Chinese tech champions at a time when Pekin’s policy with regard to these actors is becoming more and more restrictive.
In detail, SoftBank cites in particular the poor performances of Didi, a company of Chinese VTC, and Couang, leader of online commerce in South Korea. The group’s results were also penalized by the failure of the sale of the British Arm (specialist in the design of fleas) American Nvidia, due to the hostility of the competition authorities. The operation would have allowed the group to collect a check for $ 66 billion (around 63.6 billion euros). Otherwise, his account today on Arm to bring money into the funds, by betting on the ever-increasing demand for semiconductors.
Above all, Mr. Son has embarked on a more prudent investment policy in short deadlines, convinced that within one or two years the markets will regain attraction for technological values. An essential issue for SoftBank which created in 2016 the largest investment fund dedicated to this type of asset, with more than $ 100 billion, supposed to be the group’s flagship. This is not at the first storm wiped after the failure of the introduction of the coworking giant, the American WeWork in 2019. But obviously the Captain Sound is ready to face other winds.