Toshiba Risks Delisting After Publishing Unaudited Financial Results

Toshiba has published its delayed financial results, warning that the company’s survival is at risk.

The Japanese electronics giant said in a statement: “There are material events and conditions that raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

Toshiba reported a loss of 532 billion yen ($4.8 billion) for April to December 2016.

However, the results have not been approved by the company’s auditors.

These latest financial results have already been delayed twice and raise the possibility that Toshiba could be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The company is expected to hold a news conference later.

Toshiba, originally known for its consumer electronics products, has faced a series of difficulties.

An accounting scandal, uncovered in 2015, led to the resignation of several members of the company’s senior management, including the CEO, after it was found to have inflated the previous seven years’ profits by $1.2 billion.

Toshiba’s problems came to a head again in January 2017, when it became clear its US nuclear unit, Westinghouse, was in financial trouble.

Westinghouse was put into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, which protects it from creditors while it undergoes restructuring.

This week, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn was reported to be willing to pay up to $27 billion for Toshiba’s computer chip business, a move which could help shore up the losses if it went ahead.

However, that has not been enough to resolve Toshiba‘s difficulties.

The company’s auditors, PriceWaterhouseCooper Aarata, have refused to sign off its accounts, resulting in their publication being delayed twice.

Now, faced with a deadline, Toshiba has made the unprecedented move of publishing the results without the auditor’s approval.

Toshiba’s statement added: “At the present time, substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern exists as of the filing date of the quarterly report.”

The loss reported is for the first nine months of Toshiba’s financial year, covering April to December 2016.

The company has previously warned that its net loss for the full year could exceed one trillion yen, which would make it one of the biggest losses in Japanese corporate history.

Toshiba is the world’s second-largest chip manufacturer, with its products used in data centers and consumer goods worldwide, including iPhones and iPads.