Toshiba Corp. has said it plans to book an asset impairment loss of around ¥260 billion in its results for the year to March 31 by writing down the value of its U.S. nuclear power subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co., which it acquired in 2006.

But Toshiba, reeling from a scandal over fraudulent accounting practices, said Tuesday it projects a smaller overall loss than previously estimated due to profits from selling some noncore operations as part of its extensive restructuring.

Toshiba now expects to post a consolidated net loss of ¥470 billion for the year, down from the ¥710 billion loss estimated in February, as it will book about ¥380 billion in profit for selling its medical equipment subsidiary Toshiba Medical Systems Corp.

However, Toshiba said its operating loss for the year is now pegged at ¥690 billion, compared with its earlier forecast of ¥430 billion, on sales of ¥5.5 trillion against the earlier projection of ¥6.2 trillion.

"We don't think our financial conditions have stabilized ... so reinforcing our (financial) standing is the biggest challenge in the current business year," President Masashi Muromachi told a news conference.

In computing the write-down on Westinghouse, Toshiba reviewed the $2.93 billion in goodwill, or ¥350 billion based on the exchange rate at that time, it booked when acquiring the U.S. nuclear plant builder.

The goodwill, calculated by deducting from the purchase price the value of the assets and liabilities acquired, was reported on the balance sheet as a fixed asset.

Toshiba attributed the asset impairment loss partly to rising fundraising costs following the downgrading of its credit ratings, while noting that there have been no changes in the economic viability of its overall nuclear business.

Nuclear businesses worldwide have faced headwinds in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.