By Kosaku Narioka


SoftBank Group Corp. shares fell sharply Wednesday morning, after it posted third-quarter net loss due partly to weak performance at its tech investment funds.

The shares were recently 6.6% lower at 5,853 yen after falling as much as 7.1% earlier.

SoftBank Group said Tuesday after market close that it posted a net loss of Y783.415 billion ($5.98 billion) in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with net profit of Y29.05 billion in the year-earlier period. The result missed an estimated net profit of Y248.365 billion in a poll of analysts by Quick.

Softbank's Vision Funds tech investment business lost Y660.10 billion in its third quarter, compared with a profit of Y50.35 billion a year earlier, as tech shares were hit by concerns about high inflation and policy tightening by global central banks.

Losses from its tech funds business more than offset profit from its Arm chip-design business and its mobile business in Japan.

Its Arm business posted a profit of Y19.27 billion in the third quarter, compared with loss of Y2.91 billion a year earlier. SoftBank Group Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said it has made significant progress in preparing an initial public offering for Arm and continued to aim for the IPO by March 2024.


Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-07-23 2111ET