Scandal-hit Toshiba cutting 7,000 jobs, heads for $4.5bn loss

Scandal-hit Toshiba has today warned that it expects an annual loss of Y550bn ($4.5bn) and plans to shed nearly 7,000 jobs in its personal computer and television consumer electronics businesses.

Toshiba said it also plans to flog its TV plant in Indonesia and end sales of TVs outside Japan.

Overall, it will shed 10,600 jobs as part of plans to streamline its loss-making businesses, an estimated five per cent of its global workforce.

The financial woes occurred after Toshiha fessed up in April to inflating profits by $1.2bn since the start of the global financial crisis, thanks to overly ambitious profit targets and a culture that prevented staff from questioning executives’ poor decisions.

Since then its stocks have been in free-fall, with shares plunging by 40 per cent.

“By implementing this plan, we would like to regain the trust of all stakeholders including shareholders and transform ourselves into a robust business,” it said in a statement.

Earlier this month it emerged that fifty individuals have sued the organisation as well as with three former CEOs and two ex-CFOs for Y301.99 million (£1.62m) in damages, according to documents filed at the Tokyo District Court. ®