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Toshiba looking to sell Westinghouse nuclear business | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Toshiba president Satoshi Tsunakawa has said the company may sell its majority stake in US nuclear unit Westinghouse. | |
The struggling electronics firm bought Westinghouse in 2015, but it has suffered huge cost over-runs. | |
Toshiba has also been given permission to delay reporting its earnings for a second time - this time until 11 April. | |
Mr Tsunakawa said: "We are working on nurturing our growth businesses to return to stable growth by fiscal years 2018 and 2019." | |
Shares in the company rallied late on Tuesday, closing up 0.5% after earlier losing nearly 9% of their value. | |
In February, Toshiba's chairman stepped down and the firm delayed publishing its results over disagreements with its auditors. | |
Last month, the firm announced a 712.5bn yen ($6.3bn; £5bn) writedown because some of its US nuclear assets were worth far less than estimated. | |
The situation has led some analysts to warn that the company's future may be at risk. | |
Nuclear losses | Nuclear losses |
While often still associated with its technology products, Toshiba has become a diverse conglomerate. Its nuclear services business brings in about a third of its revenue. | While often still associated with its technology products, Toshiba has become a diverse conglomerate. Its nuclear services business brings in about a third of its revenue. |
However, that side of the business has not made a profit since 2013 and nuclear services globally are struggling since the Fukushima disaster in 2011. | |
Toshiba had initially alerted investors in December 2016 that it faced a heavy one-off loss linked to a deal done by Westinghouse. | |
Assets that it took on are likely to be worth less than initially thought and there is also a dispute about payments that are due. | Assets that it took on are likely to be worth less than initially thought and there is also a dispute about payments that are due. |
Requesting permission for the new delay to its results, Toshiba said some US senior managers had exerted "inappropriate pressure" in the way the acquisition of a nuclear plant construction company had been dealt with in its accounts. | |
Selling assets | Selling assets |
Since December's announcement, Toshiba shares have lost more than half of their value. | |
To offset the upcoming writedown, Toshiba is also rushing to sell most or even all its prized memory chip business, which it thinks is worth at least $13bn. | |
The company is the second largest chipmaker in the world, behind Samsung. | |
Toshiba is also still struggling to recover from a scandal in 2015, when it emerged that profits had been overstated for seven years. The news prompted the chief executive to resign. |