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Delays, Confusion as Toshiba Reports $6 Billion Nuclear Hit and Slides To Loss (reuters.com)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the delays-and-confusion dept.

Makiko Yamazaki, reporting for Reuters: After a day of delays and confusion, Japan's Toshiba said on Tuesday it expected to book a $6.3 billion hit to its U.S. nuclear unit, a writedown that wipes out its shareholder equity and will drag the group to a full-year loss. Hours earlier on Tuesday, the battered conglomerate rattled investors by failing to release its earnings on schedule, saying initially it was 'not ready' and then announcing later it needed more time to probe its Westinghouse nuclear business after internal reports uncovered potential problems. The figures eventually released were numbers that have yet to be approved by its auditor and Toshiba cautioned investors that a major revision was possible. Fully audited numbers are now not due till March 14 after the firm was granted a reprieve for its formal filing by Japanese regulators. "Finally now people are starting to recognize that internal control problems, the accounting issues and governance issues are very real and no longer abstract," said Zuhair Khan, an analyst at Jefferies in Tokyo. "They impact the viability of the company."

2 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Don't let the door hit... by b0bby · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thanks, I'll make sure to get my next nuclear power plant from someone else!

  2. Re:Don't let the door hit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Toshiba Customer Support: Hello, and thank you for calling Toshiba Customer Support. How can I help you today?
    cellocgw: There's hole burning through the bottom of my Toshiba Nuclear Power Plant and it's really, really hot in here. What should I do?
    TCS: Have you tried rebooting?
    c: Yes, I've tried rebooting. I've also pulled the core out while the reactor was on and then re-inserted to core and turned it back on. That's how I fix my Blackberry.
    TCS: Great. What happened when you did that?
    c: I got even hotter and now my hand is swelling up.
    TCS: Good, that shows the core is still working. Is you're reactor connected to the Internet? Can you request Remote Assistance?
    c: Sure, doing that now.
    TCS: What credit card will you be using to pay for today's Remote Assistance?
    c: What, I'm not paying?!?
    TCS: Sir, the warranty on your reactor expired yesterday.
    c: What?!? Fuck Toshiba and the [generic beast of burden] they rode in on. You have by far the worst consumer customer service I've ever run across.