Kobe Steel shares tumble, Nikkei says 30-plus foreign customers affected

[TOKYO] Shares of Kobe Steel Ltd slid more than 8 per cent early on Friday after the Nikkei newspaper said more than 30 non-Japanese customers including Daimler AG and Airbus SE had been affected by the firm's data falsification.

Kobe Steel shares were down 8.5 per cent at 0030 GMT after stabilising on Thursday to close slightly higher.

Chief Executive Hiroya Kawasaki had warned reporters on Thursday that the data fabrication practice, which the company said affected about 200 companies, may have spread beyond Japan.

The government has ordered it to report on how the misconduct occurred and address safety concerns within about two weeks.

REUTERS