Toshiba slashes 7,000 jobs, pulls out of nuke plant

THE BOSS of struggling Toshiba said yesterday he would cut 7,000 jobs over the next five years as the Japanese engineering firm pulled out of foreign investments and downgraded its annual profit forecasts. Toshiba also expects to scrap or consolidate some factories and reduce its subsidiaries by 25 percent - announcing the withdrawal from a U.S.based liquid natural gas business and the liquidation of NuGen, a nuclear subsidiary in Britain. A joint venture between Toshiba and France’s Engie, the NuGen project in Cumbria in northwest England was to comprise three reactors and was due to start producing energy from 2025.

CEO Nobuaki Kurumatani told reporters in Tokyo the decision was reached after “sincere discussions” with the British government. He added that the firm expected to slash 7,000 jobs over the next five years, many coming from early or planned retirement. The former Japanese behemoth is going through a sweeping reform effort to revive itself following its disastrous acquisition of U.S. nuclear energy firm Westinghouse, which racked up billions of dollars in losses before being placed under bankruptcy protection. For the year to March 2019, the firm said it expected a net profit of 920 billion yen ($8.1 billion), down from an earlier projection of 1,070 billion yen. Annual operating profit outlook is now 60 billion yen, down from a previous 70 billion yen forecast, while the sales estimates were kept at 3,600 billion yen.