Toshiba says to mark down reported profit for three years

[TOKYO] Japan's Toshiba Corp said it was likely to mark down its reported operating profit for the three fiscal years through March 2014 by a total of at least 50 billion yen (S$555.43 million) after an internal probe into accounting irregularities.

The announcement late on Wednesday soothed investors' fears the investigation could lead to a major scandal, and helped push up Toshiba's shares by more than 5 per cent. Its American Depositary Receipts surged 12 per cent overnight.

The industrial conglomerate said the outlook was based on its own probe, which began in early April. The company is in the process of setting up a third-party committee, which it warned could reach a different conclusion.

The investigation is the company's second accounting scandal in less than two years, and prompted it to delay its quarterly earnings announcement and cancel a year-end dividend.

Toshiba has said the internal probe discovered cases in which building costs for infrastructure projects were under-reported and losses from construction work were inadequately booked.

As a result of the extended probe, Toshiba said it would not be able to announce financial results for the latest fiscal year until June or later. The firm would normally have released earnings by early May.

REUTERS