Toshiba reports $8.4 billion loss

The Japanese electronics giant Toshiba has racked up a massive $8.4 billion loss, the company announced on Monday.

The company, whose US nuclear unit Westinghouse has filed for bankruptcy protection, is reporting a 950 billion yen ($8.4 billion) net loss for the fiscal year that ended in March.

Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp. labelled the results released Monday as projections, rather than results, as they had not obtained auditors' approval, but it was in line with what it had said recently.

The loss was about double the 460 billion yen ($4.1 billion) loss racked up in the previous fiscal year.

Toshiba, whose products include computer chips and household appliances, acquired Westinghouse in 2006.

Toshiba's results failed to win auditors' approval from the previous quarter, after questions were raised over the acquisition of US nuclear construction company CB&I; Stone and Webster.

Westinghouse was a mistake

Its president, Satoshi Tsunakawa, has recently said the strategy based on Westinghouse was a mistake, and has promised it won't take on new nuclear projects.

Toshiba has been trying to sell its computer-chip business to shore up its finances, but has become embroiled in a dispute with US joint venture partner Western Digital, which is demanding that Toshiba not sell it to anyone else.

Western Digital said that several of its SanDisk subsidiaries have filed a request for arbitration with the ICC International Court of Arbitration over its NAND flash-memory joint ventures with Toshiba.

The request seeks to stop Toshiba's sale without SanDisk's consent, arguing that it would be a violation of the joint venture agreement. The arbitration will take place in San Francisco, Western Digital said on Sunday.

"Seeking relief through mandatory arbitration was not our first choice in trying to resolve this matter. However, all of our other efforts to achieve a resolution to date have been unsuccessful, and so we believe legal action is now a necessary next step," Chief Executive Steve Milligan said.

Return to profit in 2018?

Toshiba said it expects to return to profit for the fiscal year through March 2018, projecting profit of 50 billion yen ($442 million).

Costs in the nuclear industry have ballooned since the March 2011 tsunami in northeastern Japan, when three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant melted down.

The disaster caused widespread and long-term environmental damage and contamination, resulting in stricter safeguards for reactor construction and operation, costs owners and operators will eventually want to pass on to consumers.