TOKYO, Aug 9 — Toshiba Corp’s shares jumped more than 9 per cent early today after sources told Reuters the Japanese conglomerate’s auditor was likely to sign off on its annual results.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC will give a “qualified opinion” endorsing Toshiba’s finances in the financial statement for the year ended in March, people with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters yesterday.
That would end a period of limbo when the auditor withheld its opinion as it checked problems that bankrupted Toshiba’s US nuclear power engineering unit in December.
However, PwC will give an “adverse” statement on the company’s internal controls with Toshiba’s results, due on Thursday, they said.
The stock rose as much as 9.2 per cent and was trading up 6.8 per cent at 0028 GMT.
Investors have feared an adverse statement could lead to a delisting of the 140-year-old company, complicating its ability to raise money for its cash-hungry memory-chip business and jeopardising its competitiveness.
But with the highly unusual split decision, one source said they were of the opinion that “Toshiba can avoid delisting if it shows a path towards improving its internal controls.” — Reuters
