File photo/Wang Jiaqi (NBD)

May 19 (NBD) -- SoftBank Group (9984.JP) would raise 1.25 trillion yen (11.7 billion U.S. dollars) using its holdings of Alibaba Group (BABA: NYSE) stock, Masayoshi Son said Monday.

The move is part of the Japanese conglomerate's plan to generate 4.5 trillion yen in cash to buy back shares and shore up its falling stock price.

Stock of SoftBank rose by 1.02 percent to close at 4,621 yen per share on the day but declined to 4,494 yen on Tuesday.

Masayoshi Son, CEO and Chairman of SoftBank, made the comment about fundraising at an earnings briefing after the company published on Monday the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2019 and announced changes to its board, including the resignation of director Jack Ma who has held the position for 13 years. 

The company posted an operating loss of 1.36 trillion yen in the fiscal year that ended March 31 of 2020, compared to a profit of 2.07 trillion yen for the previous year, marking its first annual loss in 15 years. 

The company noted that 1.9 trillion yen of the total operating loss are led by SoftBank Vision Fund and other SBIA-managed funds. For those companies that Vision Fund made investments in, fair values of Uber, WeWork and its three affiliates decreased, and total fair value of other portfolio companies decreased significantly in the fourth quarter, primarily due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

"During the Great Depression, stock prices fell to one-tenth. It took 25 years to recover. Coronavirus is a similar event: an unprecedented crisis," Masayoshi Son warned.

To restore investor confidence, the company also announced on Monday that it plans to repurchase 500 billion yen worth of its own stock by March 2021. It's noticed that SoftBank announced the same amount share buyback plan in mid March. An announcement released last Friday said 58.6 million shares worth of 250 billion yen have been repurchased as of April 30, 2020.

Son said he was confident of completing asset sales. "I have spent a long time as an entrepreneur. After the collapse of the dot com bubble, I was on the edge of the cliff, supporting myself with two fingers. This time, 4.5 trillion yen can be certainly monetized," he said.

Besides using Alibaba Group stock to raise fund, SoftBank may sell part of its around 24 percent stake in T-Mobile US (TMUS: Nasdaq), The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn