Toshiba Corp, whose US nuclear unit Westinghouse has filed for bankruptcy protection, yesterday reported a ¥950 billion (US$8.4 billion) net loss for the fiscal year ended March.
The Japanese electronics giant’s results have failed to win auditors’ approval from the previous quarter, after questions were raised over the acquisition of US nuclear construction company CB&I Stone and Webster.
Tokyo-based Toshiba called the results projections, rather than results, as they had not gotten auditors’ approval, but it was in line with what it had said recently.
Photo: EPA
The loss was about double the ¥460 billion loss racked up the previous fiscal year.
Toshiba, whose products include computer chips and household appliances, acquired Westinghouse in 2006.
Toshiba president Satoshi Tsunakawa has said the strategy based on Westinghouse was a mistake and has promised it would take on new nuclear projects.
Toshiba has been trying to sell its computer-chip business to shore up its finances, but has become embroiled in a dispute with US joint venture partner Western Digital Corp, which is demanding that Toshiba not sell it to anyone else.
Western Digital said that several of its SanDisk Corp subsidiaries have filed a request for arbitration with the ICC International Court of Arbitration over its NAND flash-memory joint ventures with Toshiba.
The request seeks to stop Toshiba’s sale without SanDisk’s consent, arguing that it would be violation of the joint venture agreement. The arbitration is to take place in San Francisco, it said on Sunday in a statement.
“Seeking relief through mandatory arbitration was not our first choice in trying to resolve this matter,” Western Digital chief executive Steve Milligan said. “However, all of our other efforts to achieve a resolution to date have been unsuccessful and so we believe legal action is now a necessary next step.”
Tsunakawa said he does not think that Western Digital can block Toshiba.
“With regards to your first question as to whether this may delay bidding procedures, we will make effort to dispel such concerns by explaining to all potential bidders the validity of Toshiba’s position,” he told reporters.
Toshiba also said it expects to return to profit for the fiscal year through March next year, of ¥50 billion.
Costs in the nuclear industry have ballooned since a tsunami hit northeastern Japan in March 2011, when three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant sank into meltdowns, and stricter safeguards are required to operate and build reactors.
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