![]() ![]() Dreams of being able to cash in on the rosy future of nuclear power were dashed in 2011 after the Fukushima disaster, and Toshiba has had trouble coming back from it ever since. The trouble started back in 2006 when Toshiba hedged its bets on nuclear by acquiring Westinghouse for $5.4 billion. This amount of writedown is much higher than the markets had anticipated, forcing Toshiba into crisis mode having to secure lending commitments from their banks, reorganize their nuclear division, and sell assets to offset their losses. There is also the question of why the nuclear writedown happened in the first place.” announced yesterday that it will take a 6.3 billion writedown to account for the meltdown of its nuclear division. Masahiko Ishino, an analyst with Tokai Tokyo Securities, weighed in on Toshiba’s woes: “The questions surrounding Toshiba are so numerous, where do you even begin? Investors want to know what will happen to the nuclear and chip business, whether elevator operations and some of Toshiba’s listed subsidiaries will be sold off. announced yesterday that it will take a 6.3 billion writedown to account for the meltdown of its nuclear division. Toshiba’s memory chip business is considered to be one of the few profitable ventures within the company’s portfolio, as it made 50.1 billion yen (approximately US$438 million) in the fiscal first half of 2016. Limiting the sale to 20 percent was a way for Toshiba to maintain control of its memory chip business, but now that the balance sheet writedown has gone public, Bloomberg points out that the company may be forced to sell a majority stake. ![]() It was reportedly in talks with Western Digital, which would price a 20 percent stake at US$2.7 billion. Toshiba Corporation today announced a 2.3 billion hit in its fiscal 2015-16 balance. The subsequent unraveling of a costly foray into nuclear power business in the US led to a 6.3 billion writedown and saw it teeter on the edge of delisting. Toshiba is now under immense pressure to develop alternative income streams, one of which was putting its semiconductor business assets up for sale. Toshiba takes 2.3-bn hit from Westinghouse write-down. Toshiba has lurched from one disaster to another over the past eight years, starting with an accounting scandal in 2015 that devastated profits and led to a company-wide restructuring.
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