Toshiba boss quits over US nuclear losses

Toshiba (Swiss: TOSH.SW - news) 's chairman has quit after the company warned of huge losses amid speculation its wider troubles would see it pull out of a nuclear project in the UK.

Shigenori Shiga said he was stepping down after Toshiba said it was on track to book a net loss of 390bn yen (£2.7bn) for the year to the end of March.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in the Japanese conglomerate fell by 8% as it said its third quarter earnings report had "not yet become available" - pointing to accounting issues over its US nuclear (Other OTC: UCLE - news) firm Westinghouse.

This was after taking a 712.5bn yen (£5bn) loss on its nuclear business

The delay in releasing results leaves the future of a planned £10bn nuclear plant at Moorside, near Sellafield in continuing doubt.

Toshiba, which owns a 60% stake in Nugen, the company that was planning to build the site, had been expected to announce that it was pulling out of nuclear projects outside Japan.

The pull-out would leave the UK Government needing to seek new backers for the Moorside project.

Instead, Toshiba surprised markets by delaying the disclosure of third quarter results.

It has now been allowed a month's delay following accounting issues at Westinghouse.

"The company deeply regrets the need for this course of action and expresses its sincerest apologies to its shareholders, investors and all other stakeholders," it said.

Unions in the UK are calling for action from the Government to try to ensure a new plant is built in Cumbria.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, said the Government's energy policy was in "chaos".

"We have become increasingly reliant on the decisions of foreign companies whose interests lie with their owners and not British consumers," she said.

The company has been going through a troubled period and has already sold its medical devices unit to Canon (Other OTC: CAJFF - news) and most of its appliance business to China's Midea Group (Shenzhen: 000333.SZ - news) , as it tries to turn around its fortunes.

It is also hoping to sell off its memory chip business to repair its struggling balance sheet.