Toshiba shares crash amid deepening nuclear writedown crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - Shares in Toshiba have dived 16% on reports that the embattled Japanese conglomerate faces bigger losses at its U.S. nuclear power business, according to BBC News.

It is feared Toshiba may have to write down the value of the unit by a larger-than-expected 700bn yen ($6.1bn).

There are unconfirmed reports Toshiba is seeking aid from the government-backed Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).

Toshiba said the exact writedown figure was not finalised, and declined to comment on any DBJ approach.

The laptops-to-hydro power giant was plunged into crisis late last year when it emerged it faced huge cost overruns on projects handled by a newly-bought company that builds U.S. nuclear power plants.

Toshiba's U.S. operation Westinghouse paid about $229m in 2015 for Stone & Webster, the nuclear construction subsidiary of Chicago Bridge & Iron.

But on 27 December Toshiba admitted that it faced writedowns of "several billion dollars". The company later indicated that the size of the writedowns would be between $1bn and $4.5bn.

Toshiba's nuclear services business brings in about one-third of the industrial giant's revenue.

The share price, down 26% at one stage on Thursday, January 19 is now 50% lower than when the writedown revelations emerged amid fears that the company still has no firm grip on the final costs.

The company, at the heart of Japan's industrial development for decades, is still recovering from revelations in 2015 that profits were overstated for seven years.

That accounting scandal led to the resignation of the company's chief executive.