for the TF heads

TOKYO— SoftBank Group Corp. 9984 12.22% , one of the world’s most aggressive high-tech investors, said Thursday it lost more money in its last fiscal year than it ever has—$13.2 billion—and will cut back its pace of new investments.

“The world is in a chaotic situation,” said Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, citing Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “In this chaotic world, the approach we at SoftBank should take is defense.”

The rough results at the Tokyo-based conglomerate come as investors throughout the globe are dealing with a dramatic pullback in tech stocks, particularly the young, high-growth companies that were a magnetic investment for investors until recently. SoftBank lost $26.2 billion in the first three months of this year.

:awooga:

SoftBank reported an overall $13.2 billion loss for its fiscal year ended March 31, including gains in divisions beside its tech funds, marking its biggest-ever full-year loss, topping a previous record set two years ago*. In a dour earnings presentation, Mr. Son also cited pressure from the Chinese crackdown on private businesses and rising interest rates.

:xi-lib-tears:

Stinging the company were soured investments in numerous startups in its $100 billion Vision Fund, the world’s largest private investment fund that was raised five years ago with the intent to seed a generation of new tech giants.

Among the biggest bad bets was Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global Inc., which has faced regulatory pressure in Beijing. As of the end of the latest quarter, the Vision Fund had lost $9.7 billion of the $12.1 billion it invested in Didi, the company said.

There is more pain to come: SoftBank said its holdings in publicly listed Vision Fund companies fell by more than $13 billion since its fiscal year ended March 31.

In all, SoftBank said the Vision Fund has made just $3.1 billion on the $45.6 billion it invested in its publicly listed companies as of Wednesday’s stock market close, a slim return after five years in which the Nasdaq has nearly doubled.

The difficult year marked the second time in a half decade that Mr. Son was on the defensive, as he apologized to investors in 2019 after a disastrous investment in office space company WeWork Inc. and other loss-heavy companies.

“We will be much more careful when we invest new money,” he said in a recorded video on SoftBank’s website Thursday, echoing his remarks nearly three years ago.

Mr. Son delivered results to investors with a slide deck made in his simplistic—and somewhat sensational—style. One slide set on a dark background with smoke rising read “The World in Chaos.”

:mao-aggro-shining:

He devoted much of the presentation to trying to reassure shareholders concerned about SoftBank’s debt levels, telling them that he is closely managing its debt and cash.

In recent months, the company borrowed nearly $6 billion tied to startup investments in its Vision Fund 2 division—an unusual move for a venture capital fund given the high risks involved

:youre-laughing: