Toshiba Corp., which averted an immediate risk of delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange when it released its annual earnings results with a "qualified" sign-off by its auditor in early August, more than a month past the regular deadline, still needs to quickly find a buyer for its semiconductor unit to pay off debts and eliminate its negative net worth by next March. A failure to do so would automatically result in the delisting of the once iconic Japanese manufacturing giant from the stock market.
Given the difficulties involving the chip unit sale and how little time is left to conclude the deal, which would then need to clear antitrust reviews by the relevant governments, Toshiba should prepare for an alternative scenario for its survival as a listed company, while doing all it can to wrap up the semiconductor unit sale in time.
The struggling electronics and machinery group reported that it incurred ¥965.6 billion in net losses — the largest ever for a Japanese manufacturer — in the year that ended last March, suffering ¥552.9 billion in debts in excess of assets. It took Toshiba weeks beyond the June 30 deadline to file the annual earnings report to the financial authorities — and only with a "qualified opinion" by its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC.