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Toshiba dives on reported nuclear power losses

Tokyo - Toshiba shares plunged in Tokyo on Thursday following reports of huge losses at its US nuclear power business.

The stock dived more than 17% to ¥238 after the Nikkei newspaper said the conglomerate could book losses of more than ¥500bn in its nuclear reactor business.

The loss would force the troubled Japanese company, which has been struggling to move past a huge accounting scandal, to seek support from a government-backed lender, the business daily said.

Toshiba said in a statement that the exact figure of the potential write-down was still being worked out.

"We are still discussing how to deal with this issue, and no concrete decisions have been made," it said.

Toshiba stock has fallen about 45% since the company, which makes everything from nuclear reactors to laptops, warned last month of a possible one-time loss on its US nuclear business.

It said costs linked to the acquisition last year by its US subsidiary Westinghouse of a nuclear services company will possibly come to "several billion US dollars" and hurt its earnings.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday Toshiba had drafted a plan to sell more assets and delay expensive plans such as layoffs to boost its coffers by about ¥300bn.

Toshiba might spin off its semiconductor operations into a separate firm, among other efforts, in a bid to shore up its finances, NHK and the Nikkei said.

Toshiba said on Wednesday that splitting its memory chip business was an option, but that no conclusion had been reached.

The company 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.

In the aftermath, the company has been shedding businesses and announced the sale of its medical devices unit to camera and office equipment maker Canon.  

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