Toshiba warns it may not survive amid massive Westinghouse losses

Toshiba warns it may not survive amid massive Westinghouse losses
By Euronews
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Japanese conglomerate Toshiba is in crisis, saying its very survival is in doubt.

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Toshiba – one of the best known names in electronics – is in crisis, saying its very survival is in doubt.

The Japanese conglomerate’s latest results reveal much bigger than previously estimated losses for the nine months through to the end of last year.

Toshiba risks its shares being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata, has refused to approved those results because of concerns over billions in losses at its US nuclear power plant subsidiary Westinghouse Electric.

Chief executive Satoshi Tsunakawa told reporters: “Tokyo Stock Exchange rules say that if it decides to delist a company, then it obviously thinks the stability of the market is threatened if it’s not delisted immediately. So we will do our utmost to avoid being delisted.”

Massive cost overruns by Westinghouse at four nuclear reactors under construction in the Southeastern United States have forced Toshiba to estimate a $9.2 billion (8.66 billion euros) annual net loss.

Cashing in their chips

To stay solvent the company is planning to sell major assets, including its prized memory chip division.

Taiwan’s Foxconn has reportedly offered up to three trillion yen (25 billion euros) for Toshiba’s chip business.

That would put Japanese regulators in a difficult position as they have vowed to vet bidders to block a sale to investors deemed to be a risk to national security. Foxconn is considered such a risk because of its close ties to China.

Taiwanese giant Foxconn is dangling a rich offer to Toshiba who owes it to investors to take this seriously https://t.co/wHbYVzbl73qtwebb</a> <a href="https://t.co/GwuhcP5M2Q">pic.twitter.com/GwuhcP5M2Q</a></p>&mdash; ReutersBreakingviews (Breakingviews) April 11, 2017

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