Toshiba to post annual net loss of US$83m

[TOKYO] Japan's Toshiba Corp is likely to post a net loss of about 10 billion yen (US$83 million) when it reports its financial 2014/15 earnings as early as this week, the Yomiuri daily reported, amid a probe into improper accounting at the company.

Toshiba was already expected to report a loss after an independent probe found it had overstated its profits by US$1.2 billion over several years, but the figure cited by Yomiuri was the first indication of how deep that loss would be.

There was no immediate comment from Toshiba.

On Monday, Toshiba postponed its annual results for a second time, citing the discovery of new accounting errors, but said it would announce the earnings by Sept 7 as missing that deadline puts it at risk of becoming delisted.

Shares in Toshiba were up 2.5 per cent on Thursday morning, while the broader market rose 1.9 per cent.

Toshiba's improper book-keeping has become Japan's biggest accounting scandal since 2011 when Olympus Corp was found to be involved in a US$1.7 billion scheme to conceal investment losses.

The Yomiuri said there was still a possibility that Toshiba could miss the Sept 7 deadline if further irregularities are found.

REUTERS