Toshiba dives on reported nuclear power losses

[TOKYO] Toshiba shares fell over nearly 13 per cent in Tokyo on Thursday following media reports of expanding losses at its US nuclear power business.

Toshiba dived 12.82 per cent to 251.4 yen in early trade after Japan's leading business daily the Nikkei reported the troubled conglomerate could book losses of more than 500 billion yen (S$6.3 billion) in its nuclear reactor business.

The loss would force the beleaguered Japanese conglomerate, which has been hit by a huge accounting scandal, to seek support from a government-backed lender, the newspaper said.

Toshiba said in a statement that the exact figure of the potential write-down is still being worked out.

Investor fears have been swirling around the company since it last month warned of a possible one-time loss over its US nuclear business.

It said that costs linked to the acquisition last year by its US subsidiary Westinghouse of a nuclear service company will possibly come to "several billion US dollars" and dent its earnings.

AFP