SoftBank posts highest-ever annual profit for a Japanese company
Japanese investment giant SoftBank today reported a record annual group net profit of $45.8bn, putting it among the world’s biggest earning firms.
SoftBank’s net income beat the $42.5bn made by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in its last business year and compared to a ¥962bn loss a year earlier.
Market enthusiasm for tech stocks drove the public listing of SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm Coupang during the fourth quarter, as well as the rising share price of Uber.
The numbers were largely driven by an annual investment gain of ¥6.29tn at its $100bn Vision Fund.
The total fair value of the first $100bn Vision Fund and the smaller second fund was $154bn at the end of March, with SoftBank distributing $22.3bn to limited partners.
Much of Vision Fund’s gain was on paper with the value of the portfolio locked up in the stock market amid concerns over frothy valuations.
SoftBank has hiked its committed capital in the second fund to $30bn from $10bn, reflecting the breadth of investment opportunities.
Two of its highest profile bets, WeWork and Grab, plan to list via SPAC mergers, with Vision Fund in talks to use its own such vehicle to list portfolio company Mapbox.
The Grab deal offers further upside for the Vision Fund should the transaction go through.
SoftBank has also completed a ¥2.5tn buyback programme which was launched last year.
The end of the buyback pulls support at a time when shares are sliding in line with weakness in US tech stocks.