Toshiba future at risk after $4.8bn loss, lack of auditor sign-off
Japanese electronics firm Toshiba has increased doubts about its future after the release of its twice-delayed quarterly results on Tuesday, which were posted without the aproval of the company’s auditors.
Toshiba Corp
¥4,893.89
17:30 19/12/23
Toshiba made a loss of $4.8bn for the period from April to December during 2016, with further losses expected for the remainder of the fiscal year. Tuesday was the deadline for Toshiba to report the figures after it was warned that it could face de-listing from the Tokyo stock exchange.
The firm's problems originated with huge writedowns at its US nuclear operation Westinghouse Electric, which filed for bankruptcy proceedings last month.
The firm's problems originated with huge writedowns at its US nuclear operation Westinghouse Electric
"There are material events and conditions that raise substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern," Toshiba said in a statement.
PriceWaterhouseCooper, the company's auditors, said it had refused to sign off on the accounts, leading to Toshiba taking the unprecedented action of releasing them without approval.
"This evaluation process was continuing at the time of the reporting," it said in the statement. "As a result, the auditing firm was unable to judge whether the... financial statement requires amendments or not."
Reports emerged on Monday that Toshiba’s chip business would be the subject of a bid as high as $27bn from Taiwanese company Foxconn, with the Japanese government currently contributing towards attempts to find a domestic buyer for the operations.