SoftBank CEO says equity value back at pre-virus levels

[TOKYO] SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son said on Thursday the equity value of the group's holdings has recovered to pre-coronavirus outbreak levels, in a defence of his investing reputation after the group was hammered by losses.

The rise in corporate value was driven by the growth of SoftBank's stake is Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and following the successful merger of its US wireless unit with T-Mobile US.

SoftBank has undertaken a complex transaction to divest part of its T-Mobile US stake to raise US$20 billion. That brings the total from its asset sale programme, which includes monetisation of stakes in Alibaba and wireless carrier SoftBank Corp, to US$35 billion or 80 per cent of the planned total, Mr Son said.

Those funds are being allocated to share buybacks and to increase SoftBanks's financial leeway. Mr Son's group was hit with a record annual loss in the year ended March as his tech investments faltered.

"We have worried a lot of people who thought that SoftBank is finished or is SoftPunku," Mr Son told a shareholder meeting, using a play on the word "puncture" used colloquially in Japanese when something is broken.

The record 2.50 trillion yen (S$31.97 billion) share buyback programme is a means of increasing value for shareholders, who should temper their expectations around dividends, Mr Son said.

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The meeting saw the appointment of new board directors including entrepreneur Lip-Bu Tan, who was elected despite the opposition of proxy adviser Glass Lewis.

Mr Son also said he is stepping down from the board of Alibaba, following co-founder Jack Ma's departure from SoftBank's board.

REUTERS