Shares of Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. dropped Monday after its core Vision Fund segment posted a $7.2 billion loss in the July-September quarter and failed to announce a share buyback program.
The SoftBank shares sank 14.3% to $42.78 (¥5,962) as of 8:29 am GST. However, they are still up 8.8% from the start of the year.
According to Reuters, the recent drop makes the shares head for its biggest one-day loss in more than two-and-a-half years.
The Vision Fund's loss, announced Friday, followed a record $16.7 billion in the July-September period of 2021, as declining startup valuations led the fund to go into defensive mode and virtually pause investments.
In the quarter that ended June 30, Vision Fund also registered a loss of $21.7 billion, its second-largest quarterly loss for the run, which reported a $26 billion loss in the quarter that ended in March.
The fund also logged investment losses of $9.9 billion in the three months to September 30 as the value of its portfolio continued to slide.
Vision Fund, launched in 2017, is one to be the world's largest technology-focused investment funds. The fund was hit by a drop in high-growth stocks this year amid unprecedented inflation that pushed most central banks in major economies to hike interest rates. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son saw his real-time net worth drop 11.3% or $2.9 billion to stand at $22.6 billion as of November 14, according to Forbes estimates.
