Toshiba dives on reported nuclear power losses

TOKYO: Toshiba shares plunged in Tokyo yesterday following reports of huge losses at its US nuclear power business.

The stock dived more than 17 per cent to 238 yen after the Nikkei newspaper said the conglomerate could book losses of more than 500 billion yen ( US$ 4.4 billion) in its nuclear reactor business.

The loss would force the troubled Japanese company, which has been struggling to move past a huge accounting scandal, to seek support from a governmentbacked lender, the business daily said.

Toshiba said in a statement that the exact figure of the potential write-down was still being worked out.

“We are still discussing how to deal with this issue, and no concrete decisions have been made,” it said.

Toshiba stock has fallen about 45 per cent since the company, which makes everything from nuclear reactors to laptops, warned last month of a possible one-time loss on its US nuclear business.

It said costs linked to the acquisition last year by its US subsidiary Westinghouse of a nuclear services company will possibly come to “several billion US dollars” and hurt its earnings.

Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said Thursday Toshiba had drafted a plan to sell more assets and delay expensive plans such as layoffs to boost its coffers by about 300 billion yen.

Toshiba might spin off its semiconductor operations into a separate firm, among other efforts, in a bid to shore up its finances, NHK and the Nikkei said.

Toshiba said Wednesday that splitting its memory chip business was an option, but that no conclusion had been reached. — AFP