Toshiba's woes continue to get worse. The company announced today that it is taking a $6.3 billion write-down due to losses in its nuclear business, and as a result, it may sell a majority stake in its semiconductor business.
We've already covered the company's announcement that it is spinning off its semiconductor business and planned to sell a 20% stake in the new outfit. At the time, Toshiba predicted its write-down to total "a few billion." The revised $6.3 billion projection, and the news that the company might sell a controlling stake of its NAND fabs, promises to send shockwaves through the semiconductor industry.
The latest Toshiba scandal has already claimed its first high-level victim. Shigenori Shiga, a Toshiba chairman that hailed from the failed U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric nuclear plant subsidiary, tendered his resignation. The resignation implies that the current losses may go beyond a bad investment and tread into scandal territory. Toshiba's already on shaky ground with regulatory agencies due to a previous accounting scandal, so its options are severely limited.
Toshiba was faced with cost overruns and construction delays in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, so it acquired nuclear construction outfit CB&I Stone and Webster in 2015. Unfortunately, Toshiba pegged the "goodwill" booking at $87 million, but then restated the charges as "several billion U.S. dollars."
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