Nobuaki Kurumatani, the outsider tapped to lead scandal-tarnished Japanese electronics company Toshiba Corp., is promising a turnaround in five years by reshaping its operations and boosting profitability. Kurumatani, the first outsider to be appointed chief executive at Toshiba in more than half a century, acknowledged the system of governance
Nobuaki Kurumatani, the outsider tapped to lead scandal-tarnished Japanese electronics company Toshiba Corp., is promising a turnaround in five years by reshaping its operations and boosting profitability.
Kurumatani, the first outsider to be appointed chief executive at Toshiba in more than half a century, acknowledged the system of governance and risk management had been weak. He stressed he brought to the company his experience in the financial sector, where compliance controls were tougher.
Toshiba has been embroiled in an accounting scandal involving massive doctoring of books.
“I feel that the organization is determined to change,” Kurumatani told reporters Tuesday at Toshiba’s Tokyo headquarters.
Toshiba has also racked up heavy losses in its nuclear business and is selling its lucrative computer-chip business to avoid going belly-up.
At the center of the losses is the acquisition of CB&I Stone & Webster by its U. S. nuclear unit Westinghouse, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
Kurumatani said the company will withdraw from all overseas nuclear operations, and the future of the energy business is moving toward renewables.
Costs of building nuclear reactors have surged due to beefed-up safety measures after a March 2011 accident at a plant in Fukushima in northeastern Japan sent three reactors into meltdowns.
