Japan’s tech investor SoftBank trims losses and promises offensive turnaround

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology company SoftBank Group continued to rack up losses for the fiscal first quarter as technology investments soured amid a market downturn. But the April-June red ink, at 477.6 billion yen, or $3.4 billion, was smaller than a year ago. Losses came from what SoftBank calls its Vision Funds. Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto struck an upbeat tone on Tuesday, stressing that the environment for technology issues was improving. SoftBank Vision Fund 1 marked a $12.4 billion gain since its inception, while SoftBank Vision Fund 2, set up after the first fund, was still performing at a loss of $18.6 billion.