Concerns over Toshiba's future

The future of Toshiba is at risk after the Japanese electronics giant on Tuesday announced a loss of $4.8 billion for the April to December period.

The disparaging unaudited financial results, which had twice been delayed amid speculation that Toshiba could be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is directly linked to Westinghouse, Toshiba's US nuclear unit, filing for bankruptcy.

"There are events and circumstances that may bring about significant questions about the idea of (carrying on) as a going concern," Toshiba said in a statement.

The warning comes as reports suggest Taiwanese giant Foxconn is offering to snap up the beleaguered Toshiba for $27 billion (25.4 billion euros) to acquire its prized memory chip business. Toshiba has sold a number of assets already, including a medical devices unit and most of its home appliance business.

Turkish electronics manufacturer Vestel said Monday it is in talks to buy Toshiba's television unit. South Korea's Hynix and American chipmaker Broadcom are among the firms in the running for Toshiba's flash memory business, along with Apple supplier Foxconn, which bought Japanese electronics giant Sharp last year.

Toshiba's shares have been hammered this year, losing more than half their value since late December when it first warned of multi-billion-dollar losses at Westinghouse.

They fell a further 2.69 percent on Tuesday, with Toshiba claiming the delay in announcing the results was due to needing more time to probe claims of financial misconduct by senior managers at Westinghouse and gauge the impact on its finances.

mds/hg (AFP/Reuters)