TOKYO, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- SoftBank Group Corp. reported Wednesday a group operating loss of 12.96 billion yen (117.86 million U.S. dollars) for the April to December period, owing to losses incurred from its investments in startups like U.S. workspace provider WeWork.
The latest result compares to a group operating profit of 1.86 trillion yen (16.91 billion U.S. dollars) logged in the same period a year earlier.
SoftBank Group. has suffered significant losses from investments made into firms including WeWork as well as ride-hailing Uber Technologies Inc. through its almost 100-billion-U.S.-dollar Vision Fund.
The company said it booked losses on such investments totaling some 797.76 billion yen (7.25 billion U.S. dollars) in the recording period, it said.
Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., Masayoshi Son, said Wednesday its second investment fund, worth 108 billion U.S. dollars, may be reduced henceforth.
"As one of our options, we may launch a smaller 'bridge fund' and make some profit before setting up the Vision Fund 2," Son told a press conference in Tokyo.
He added, "I am sorry for raising concern over the failed investment in WeWork."
He also said, however, that the group's business improved in the October to December period, with operating losses narrowed compared to the previous quarter.
"The situation has positively changed," said Son, adding that the Vision Fund had seen one trillion yen (9.09 billion U.S. dollars) in investment returns as of late December.
While not providing an earnings outlook for the business year through March, the company said it posted a group net profit of 476.59 billion yen (4.33 billion U.S. dollars) in the nine months ended Dec. 31, slumping 69.0 percent from a year earlier, as group sales retreated 1.1 percent to total 7.09 trillion yen (64.48 billion U.S. dollars).
