Toshiba revises down forecasts as it weighs buyout

In April last year, the firm said it was suspending a plan to split in two after a shareholder vote against the idea and would weigh going private.

Last week, Toshiba confirmed that it had received a "proposal" from a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), but without further details.

On Tuesday, chief financial officer Masayoshi Hirata reiterated "right now, the special committee is closely studying the content of the proposal".

But he declined to give a timeframe for evaluating the offer, which the Nikkei business daily said was around 2 trillion yen ($15 billion).

Mega banks Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Mizuho Bank will each offer loans worth 500 billion yen, while companies including financial services firm Orix, electronic parts maker Rohm and power utility Chubu Electric would offer a total of around one trillion yen, it said.

For the October-December period, Toshiba posted a net loss of 16.7 billion yen, against a 55.1 billion yen net profit a year earlier.

Operating profit dropped 87.5 percent year-on-year to 5.3 billion yen on sales of 774.9 billion yen, down 4.2 percent, due partly to weak sales in the "electronic devices and storage solutions" segment, it said in a statement.

For the full-year to March 2023, the firm revised down its expected operating profit to 95 billion yen and sales to 3.32 trillion yen -- both down less than one percent from the previous forecasts in November -- on "one-off factors".

The firm also announced Tuesday its chief executive officer Goro Yanase was stepping down over entertainment expenses misconduct.

Once a symbol of Japan's advanced technology and economic prowess, Toshiba has been rocked by a series of scandals, financial troubles and shock high-level resignations in recent years.

The process of Toshiba's restructuring has dragged on for almost two years since the first proposal was made.

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Toshiba