Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp. reported smaller losses for the April-June quarter compared to a year earlier. The company’s losses totaled 174 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in the latest quarter, down from nearly 478 billion yen in the same period of last year.
SoftBank’s investment operations improved considerably, with a nearly 560 billion yen ($3.8 billion) gain. The company’s investments in various technology companies, including American office-space-sharing WeWork, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, and telecommunications company T-Mobile, contributed to the improved performance.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June. Sales also increased at Arm, an artificial intelligence and processor company owned by SoftBank, while investment gains were recorded for Alibaba and T-Mobile holdings.
However, the weak Japanese yen, which is typically a plus for Japanese exporters like Toyota, worked negatively for SoftBank, adding 443.9 billion yen ($3 billion) in red ink for the latest quarter. The U.S. dollar was trading at around 150-yen levels during that period.
Overall, SoftBank’s quarterly sales rose 9% compared to the same period last year, indicating that the company’s diversified investments are helping to offset some of the challenges faced by individual portfolio companies.
