JAPAN: Tokyo Electric Power Co. reports a net loss of $15 billion following the disaster at its Fukushima nuclear power plant
Record ID:
463695
JAPAN: Tokyo Electric Power Co. reports a net loss of $15 billion following the disaster at its Fukushima nuclear power plant
- Title: JAPAN: Tokyo Electric Power Co. reports a net loss of $15 billion following the disaster at its Fukushima nuclear power plant
- Date: 21st May 2011
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MAY 20, 2011) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) EXTERIOR OF TOKYO HEADQUARTERS OF TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER CO. (TEPCO) "TEPCO" LOGO TEPCO PRESIDENT MASATAKA SHIMIZU WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE SHIMIZU BOWING TO AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) RESIGNING PRESIDENT OF TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, MASATAKA SHIMIZU, SAYING: "The consolidated loss due to the costs to restore assets damaged by the earthquake is 1 trillion and 20.4 billion yen." SHIMIZU GIVING CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) RESIGNING PRESIDENT OF TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, MASATAKA SHIMIZU, SAYING: "We will sell all assets we can sell, except those necessary for our utility business, as fast as possible to raise up to 600 billion yen." TEPCO MANAGEMENT SEATED AT CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) RESIGNING PRESIDENT OF TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, MASATAKA SHIMIZU, SAYING: "I would like to take responsibility for losing the credibility of nuclear safety and giving the public anxiety and concern. Therefore I wish to resign from the post of CEO together with the vice-president, Mr. Muto."
- Embargoed: 5th June 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVACQYUIVF4TRHGCU96W3WXH34QT
- Story Text: Japan's damaged Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) reported a net loss of $15 billion (U.S. dollars) on Friday (May 20) to account for the disaster at its Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Tokyo Electric, commonly known as Tepco, is struggling to bring its crippled nuclear plant in northern Japan under control after damage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled reactors and triggered radiation leaks.
"The consolidated loss due to the costs to restore assets damaged by the earthquake is 1 trillion and 20.4 billion yen," Tepco President Masataka Shimizu told a news conference.
The company, Asia's largest utility, posted a net loss of 1.25 trillion yen for the year ending in March, compared with a profit of 133.8 billion yen a year earlier. It was the biggest loss by a non-financial firm in Japan, exceeding the 835 billion yen loss by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in 2002.
The loss, the biggest in Tepco's 60-year history, reflects costs to scrap damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi and a write-off of deferred tax assets with compensation payouts likely to depress profits for many years.
Tepco said it would sell business assets not needed for the power utility business to raise emergency funds.
"We will sell all assets we can sell, except those necessary for our utility business, as fast as possible to raise up to 600 billion yen," said Shimizu, 66, adding that he would also step down to take responsibility for the disaster and radiation leaks at the plant, making way for an insider, managing director Toshio Nishizawa, 60.
"I would like to take responsibility for losing the credibility of nuclear safety and giving the public anxiety and concern by resigning from the post of president, together with the vice-president, Mr. Muto," he said.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government would examine Tepco's plans carefully.
"We want Tepco to proceed with the maximum rationalization efforts on its operations in order to swiftly award compensation, stabilize the damaged nuclear reactors, and provide reliable electricity. The government will ask an independent committee to strictly examine Tepco's rationalization plans to judge whether they're sufficient," Edano said during a regular news conference.
The government last week agreed to set up a fund using taxpayers' money to help Tepco cope with compensation. Tepco can draw on the fund to make upfront payments and repay the fund from its annual profits over several years.
Tepco has not made an estimate for the likely cost of compensating all victims. Analyst forecasts have ranged from around $25 billion up to $130 billion if the crisis at the nuclear complex drags on.
On Thursday (May 19) Tepco released dramatic new images of the 14-metre (46-foot) tsunami as it began to break against the seawall, illustrating how the Fukushima plant's defences were overwhelmed by the disaster.
Japan has promised a full and independent account of how the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl developed and whether mistakes were made in the initial response.
Tepco also said a giant floating steel structure that will store some of the plant's massive volume of contaminated water would arrive at the complex this weekend.
About 90,000 tonnes of radioactive water has collected in basements and trenches in and around the reactor buildings, as the utility poured water into reactors to cool their fuel rods after the disaster disabled their cooling systems.
Tepco faces a major challenge in preventing that water from seeping into ground water and the ocean. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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