SoftBank writes off Rs 6,400 crore from its Snapdeal investment

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group on Wednesday reported a loss of $1.4 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) from investments for 2016-17 made in Indian startups, primarily Snapdeal and Ola.

SoftBank said that it has written off over $1 billion (Rs 6400 crore) on valuation of its investment in Snapdeal. 

The company said that it recognised the loss on the valuation of shares and associates of JPY 114,059 million (Rs 6,470.4 crore) as a special loss in its non-consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 2017.

The write-off was from SoftBank's investments in subsidiaries and associates including STARFISH I PTE, which owns shares in Jasper Infotech, which owns Snapdeal.

SoftBank Group Corp (SBG) registered loss from financial instruments at FVTPL (fair value through profit or loss [FCTPL]) of Japanese yen 160,419 million in consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 2017, SoftBank said in a statement.

It said that financial instruments at FCTPL included preferred shares of Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd, which operates Snapdeal, and ANI Technologies, which operates Ola cabs in India.

"This (SBG's loss at FVTPL) mainly resulted from recording a loss as the amount of changes in the fair value of the financial instruments at FVTPL from March 31, 2016 to March 31, 2017," SoftBank said.

The Japanese firm has multi-billion investments in Indian firms, including Ola, Snapdeal and Elara Technologies, which owns PropTiger, Housing and Makaan.Com.