SoftBank returns to full-year profit for first time in four years

For the full fiscal year ended March 2025, the Japanese conglomerate posted a consolidated net profit of $7.4 billion
| Photo Credit:
Akio Kon

SoftBank Group reported a net profit of $3.5 billion (¥546 billion) for the January–March quarter, rebounding from a loss in the previous three months. The turnaround was largely driven by investment gains in global tech majors including Alibaba, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom.

For the full fiscal year ended March 2025, the Japanese conglomerate posted a consolidated net profit of $7.4 billion (¥1.15 trillion), a sharp reversal from the $1.47 billion (¥227.6 billion) loss it logged a year earlier.

The Net Asset Value(NAV) stood at ¥25.7 trillion, down 7.5 per cent year-on-year while the cash position declined to ¥3.4 trillion from ¥4.7 trillion in the same period.

However, not all bets paid off. Some of SoftBank’s India investments continued to drag on performance. In the March quarter alone, the value of Vision Fund 2’s listed holdings such as Ola and Swiggy, marked to market using comparable peers, fell 21.7 per cent, contributing to a 2.7 per cent decline in the overall portfolio value.

“The fair value of investments held at the fourth quarter-end decreased by 2.7 per cent from the previous quarter-end, down 21.7 per cent q-o-q for public portfolio companies, mainly due to share price declines in Swiggy and Ola Electric Mobility,” the consolidated financials read.

Vision funds

The Vision Funds segment posted an investment gain of $2.5 billion (¥387.6 billion). This was led by Vision Fund 1, which reported a $6.1 billion (¥940.5 billion) gain ,thanks to rising valuations in companies like ByteDance and Coupang.

In contrast, Vision Fund 2 recorded a loss of $3.4 billion (¥526.5 billion) for FY25, mainly due to markdowns in Swiggy, Ola, and other portfolio companies.

The group’s fair value of investments held at Q4 decreased by 2.7 per cent sequentially. A $708M loss for public portfolio companies held by its start-up focused Softbank Vision Fund 2 (SVF2), which holds investments in companies like Swiggy and Ola Electric Mobility, contributed to the overall decline. Softbank Vision Fund 1 (SVF1) with exposure to start-ups like Brainbees Solutions Limited (FirstCry) and Delhivery Ltd, performed significantly better with gains of $1.8 billion.

Report filed by BL intern Rohan Das

Published on May 13, 2025