Toshiba share price up 4.2 per cent on close as company confirms it is cooperating with US authorities
The Japanese electronics conglomerate Toshiba saw its shares rise by 4.2 per cent as trading closed in Tokyo today.
Toshiba also today confirmed that its US arm is under investigation into losses at its nuclear power operations, after allegations surfaced that there had been major fraud in the accounting operations at the corporation's US-based nuclear business division, Westinghouse.
"Several of our US subsidiaries have been requested to provide information by the US Department of Justice and [the]Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], and they are cooperating with the request," Toshiba said in a statement, referring to an "accounting problem" without naming any individual companies.
The share jump also comes a day after it announced the sale of its medical unit, Toshiba Medical System Corporation, to Japanese camera maker Canon for ¥665.5bn (£4.2bn).
The scandal-ridden conglomerate has been looking for cost-cutting measures since December 2015, when claims that upper management had been padding out profits for several years were leaked in an internal review. Toshiba also plans to sell a large, likely majority, stake in its home appliances business to China's Midea Group.
Over Friday's trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei dropped by around 1.2 per cent at its close due to concerns over the strengthening Japanese yen, after the currency gained value for the fifth consecutive day. It was trading at around ¥110 to the dollar, which eats into many exporters' earnings.