Toshiba on Tuesday won approval again to delay releasing its earnings, averting an embarrassing delisting, while it said it would try to sell a US nuclear division hit by massive losses and allegations of accounting fraud. Japanese financial regulators have given the company until April 11 to publish results for the October-December quarter, which were originally due in mid-February.
Toshiba said it needed more time to probe claims of misconduct by senior managers at Westinghouse Electric and gauge the impact on its finances.
"An additional four weeks will be necessary to finalise the investigation," Toshiba said.
The company's top executive also said it will move to offload its controlling stake in Westinghouse, but did not elaborate.
President Satoshi Tsunakawa also declined to comment on earlier reports that it was mulling bankruptcy protection for the troubled nuclear business.
"Nothing has been decided yet," he told a news briefing Tuesday.
The Tokyo-listed stock dived nearly nine percent in early afternoon trade, as news that Toshiba would not release its numbers Tuesday raised fears it could be yanked from Japan's premier stock exchange. The green light from regulators pushing back the deadline eased concerns about a delisting and Toshiba recovered to end at 215.9 yen ($1.90), up 0.46 percent.
However, after markets closed, the Tokyo bourse said Toshiba still risked being delisted unless it improved internal controls.
Toshiba 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.
The probe was started after a whistleblower complained that one or more Westinghouse executives exerted "inappropriate pressure" on its accounting.
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