Japanese conglomerate Toshiba on Tuesday revised down its annual forecasts as it said it was still weighing a purchase proposal that would take it private after months of wrangling.
In April last year, the firm said it was suspending a plan to split in two after a shareholder vote against the idea and would weigh going private.
Last week, Toshiba confirmed that it had received a "proposal" from a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), but without further details.
On Tuesday, chief financial officer Masayoshi Hirata reiterated "right now, the special committee is closely studying the content of the proposal". But he declined to give a timeframe for evaluating the offer, which the Nikkei business daily said was around 2 trillion yen (€14 billion).
Mega banks Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Mizuho Bank will each offer loans worth 500 billion yen, while companies including financial services firm Orix, electronic parts maker Rohm and power utility Chubu Electric would offer a total of around one trillion yen, it said.
For the October-December period, Toshiba posted a net loss of 16.7 billion yen, against a 55.1 billion yen net profit a year earlier.
Operating profit dropped 87.5 per cent year-on-year to 5.3 billion yen on sales of 774.9 billion yen, down 4.2 per cent, due partly to weak sales in the "electronic devices and storage solutions" segment, it said in a statement.
Operating profit dropped 87.5% year-on-year to 5.3bn yen on sales of 774.9bn yen, down 4.2%
For the full-year to March 2023, the firm revised down its expected operating profit to 95 billion yen and sales to 3.32 trillion yen – both down less than one per cent from the previous forecasts in November – on "one-off factors".
The firm also announced on Tuesday its chief executive officer Goro Yanase was stepping down over entertainment expenses misconduct.
Once a symbol of Japan's advanced technology and economic prowess, Toshiba has been rocked by a series of scandals, financial troubles and shock high-level resignations in recent years.
The process of Toshiba's restructuring has dragged on for almost two years since the first proposal was made.