Embattled Toshiba names new president

Toshiba's incoming president Satoshi Tsunakawa attends a news conference at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on May 6, 2016. Picture: Issei Kato

Toshiba's incoming president Satoshi Tsunakawa attends a news conference at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on May 6, 2016. Picture: Issei Kato

Published May 6, 2016

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Tokyo - Scandal-hit Toshiba on Friday appointed a new president to steer the vast conglomerate past a huge accounting scandal that has hammered its reputation.

Company veteran Satoshi Tsunakawa, 60, a senior vice-president who joined Toshiba in 1979, will replace incumbent chief Masashi Muromachi in June, Toshiba said.

Read: Toshiba shares plummet

Muromachi became interim president in July last year after top executives resigned over the scandal.

The company on Friday also named a new chairman, saying that new leadership was crucial as Toshiba restructures its business.

“The decision was made on the basis that a series of business restructuring initiatives is on track, and that the company should move forward to focus on growth with a new management team,” it said.

A once proud pillar of corporate Japan, Toshiba has been besieged by problems, most notably a profit-padding scandal in which bosses for years systematically pushed subordinates to cover-up weak financial results.

Toshiba publishes its full-year earnings next week but it has already warned of a 470 billion yen ($4.4 billion) net loss for the last fiscal year as it booked a massive write-down of its US nuclear unit Westinghouse.

However, the shortfall is lower than a previous estimate of a 710 billion yen loss, partially offset by the sale of Toshiba's medical devices business to Canon.

AFP

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