Toshiba has met a deadline to report its long-awaited earnings results, reducing the risk that the firm will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The embattled electronics firm posted a loss of $8.8bn (£6.7bn) for the last fiscal year. Auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata gave a “qualified opinion” on the financial statements, meaning it broadly endorsed the results. Toshiba has struggled to recover from a 2015 accounting scandal. In late 2016, billions of dollars in losses at its US nuclear unit Westinghouse were first revealed. Toshiba, looking to diversify away from consumer electronics, had bought the business in 2006. Its financial troubles deepened after delays and costs overruns at two US reactors, and as global appetite for nuclear energy waned following the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. Westinghouse was put into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which protects it from creditors while it undergoes restructuring. Toshiba has narrowly escaped de-listing – for now at least. But the troubled firm’s problems are far from over. While auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata have broadly endorsed the results, there are reports that PwC also issued an “adverse opinion” on Toshiba saying the company didn’t do enough to alert investors about the losses at its US Westinghouse unit soon enough. Toshiba says that it reported the losses as soon as it could. But the risk hasn’t gone away. Another deadline still looms – the company has until March 2018 to resolve its debt issues. Analysts say it’s hard to see how the beleaguered electronics giant won’t face delisting soon – simply because trust in the firm’s ability to resurrect itself is at an all time-low and the company hasn’t done much to infuse investors with confidence.
BBC 10th Aug 2017 read more »
Toshiba Corp has likely avoided immediate delisting after its auditor signed off on its financial results albeit with criticism of its governance, yet its future remains uncertain with no progress in talks to sell its chips unit for much-needed cash. PriceWaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC (PwC) gave a “qualified opinion” on Toshiba’s results for the year ended March as well as for April-June, according to a filing. That means the auditor broadly vouched for Toshiba’s book-keeping. However, PwC also issued a rare “adverse opinion” on the firm’s internal controls, saying losses at its now bankrupt U.S. nuclear arm Westinghouse were not booked in a timely manner.
Reuters 10th Aug 2017 read more »
Cumbrian new nuclear backer Toshiba is set to have long-awaited results signed off by its auditor, with criticisms, according to new reports. The Japanese giant owns NuGen, which has plans for a £10bn power plant in Moorside, near Sellafield. It was due to publish results in February but these have been delayed with multiple deadlines missed. Unaudited accounts have forecast a £6.5bn loss. Japan’s Nikkei publication has said that auditors PwC Aarata will sign off the accounts with an adverse opinion on the company’s internal governance expressed.
Carlisle News and Star 9th Aug 2017 read more »