The government will provide an additional ¥689.4 billion to Tokyo Electric Power Co. over massive compensation payments related to the Fukushima No. 1 plant triple-meltdown crisis, a move that will lower the risk of the cash-strapped utility failing.
Trade and industry minister Yukio Edano agreed to Tepco's cash request at a meeting Monday with Tepco President Toshio Nishizawa.
The utility announced its earnings projections for the year to March 31 later in the day, widening the loss estimate to ¥695 billion from the ¥600 billion it announced in November. With the announcement of the financial statement, the company met the deadline of Tuesday before its shares can be struck from the Tokyo Stock Exchange a month after being placed under supervision if no quarterly report is filed, according to bourse rules.