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A
new board lineup proposed on Tuesday also kept interim President
Masashi Muromachi in his role on a more permanent basis,
confirming media reports, maintaining stability but possibly
disappointing some investors who hoped for a new leader.
Toshiba's board overhaul follows criticisms over the scandal and
coincides with government efforts to make Japanese companies
more attractive to foreign investors by adopting governance
guidelines for listed firms, including appointing multiple
independent directors.
The company previously had four outside directors including two
former diplomats, but analysts said they likely lacked the
experience and collective confidence to question top executives.
Investigators last month blamed Toshiba's accounting
irregularities on a corporate culture that rarely challenged
authority figures.
Toshiba said it would now have seven external directors on its
11-member board.
The new members include Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp
<4188.T> Chairman Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, who is also leader of
the influential Keizai Doyukai group of corporate executives, as
well as former Asahi Breweries President Koichi Ikeda and former
Shiseido Co <4911.T> Chief Executive Shinzo Maeda.
Toshiba will seek approval of the candidates at an extraordinary
shareholders' meeting in late September.
The company also said it was likely to report a net loss for its
latest financial year ended in March, as it takes 127 billion
yen ($1.02 billion) in impairment charges to reflect writedowns
in its nuclear business as well as semiconductor and appliance
units.
Toshiba had originally projected a net profit of 120 billion yen
for the last fiscal year but withdrew that forecast in May and
delayed its earnings announcement pending the results of an
investigation into its accounting irregularities.
It also estimated on Tuesday an operating profit of 170 billion
yen for the latest financial year.
Shares of Toshiba ended flat ahead of the announcement of the
board changes, which had already been reported in domestic
media.
(Reporting by Thomas Wilson and Taiga Uranaka; Additional
reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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