英国《金融时报》
原文阅读精选集Vol.4

东芝发布延期财报:净亏378亿日元

今年7月，东芝因为造假、虚报利润高达30亿美元引爆了日本史上最大的会计丑闻，社长田中久雄为此引咎辞职。事件也造成了东芝原定8月披露的财报延期，直至9月7日发布了2014财年财报：整个财年的净亏损额为378亿日元(约合人民币20.2亿元)。此消息一出，市场一片哗然，东芝公司亏损在哪里，它在哪里又是赚钱的？

 

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

fallout 后果

fiscal 财政的

net loss 净损失

impairment 减值

amendments 修正案

 

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

Toshiba falls into the red with Y37.8bn full-year loss（428words）

By Kana Inagaki in Tokyo

 

Toshiba has reported an annual loss of $318m,finalising the extent of the fallout from an accounting scandal that stretches back seven years and has wiped more than a third off the company's share value.

 

Shares initially rose more than 5 per cent after Toshiba finally published its revised earnings on Monday,but investors said the company must do more to allay concerns about its nuclear and semiconductor businesses,which led to the massive writedowns.

 

For the fiscal year to the end of March,the Japanese industrial group,which also makes televisions and laptops,reported a net loss of Y37.83bn（$318m),after recording a profit of Y60.24bn a year earlier. Before the scandal broke,the company had anticipated a net profit of Y120bn.

 

Operating profit declined 34 per cent from the previous year to Y170bn,while revenue increased 2.6 per cent to Y6.66tn.

 

Toshiba has been unable to close its books since flagging accounting irregularities in April but had warned it would swing to a full-year net loss as a result of related impairment charges.

 

A subsequent investigation found that senior executives had played a role in inflating profits by more than $1bn over seven years,leading to a board shake-up and the resignation of Hisao Tanaka,its former chief executive.

 

The company missed two deadlines to report results,last week delaying its earnings release for the second time after discovering new accounting issues that required further investigation.

 

On Monday,Toshiba also said it had revised down its pre-tax profit figures by Y225bn over a seven-year period dating back to 2008. On a net profit level,the downward revisions totalled Y155bn.

 

The amendments came after Toshiba wrote down the value of its nuclear business involving a project in south Texas,the semiconductor division and its struggling consumer electronics businesses such as televisions and PCs. The writedown did not involve Westinghouse,Toshiba's US-based nuclear power company.

 

“Toshiba's decision not to write down the Westinghouse unit leaves uncertainty on its nuclear business,” said Naoki Fujiwara,a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.

 

“There are still questions about lawsuits and what kind of regulatory penalties Toshiba will receive so investors won't be seriously buying Toshiba shares just because they are cheap,” Mr Fujiwara added.

 

Toshiba shares closed up 1.8 per cent on Monday,after earlier gaining as much as 5.8 per cent. They have fallen as much as 34 per cent since the scandal came to light five months ago.

 

The company will hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on September 30 to seek approval of its new board members.

 

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

 

1.How many years ago was the accounting scandal?

A.six

B.five

C.two

D.seven

[1] 答案

 

2.What kind of businesses did investors ask to allay concerns?

A.electronics

B.nuclear

C.health

D.energy

[2] 答案

3.Who played a role in inflating profits by more than $1bn in a subsequent investigation?

A.middle management

B.skilled worker

C.senior executives

D.senior engineer

[3] 答案

 

4.Why investors won't be seriously buying Toshiba shares even they are cheap?

A.There are still questions.

B.Japanese yen has become weak

C.They hate the scandal.

D.They don't have enough money.

[4] 答案

 

[1]答案：D.seven
解释：文章第一段，东芝公司的会计丑闻可追溯到7年之前。

[2]答案：B.nuclear
解释：文章第二段投资者说，公司必须做更多的工作来消除关于其核和半导体方面的关注。

[3]答案：C.senior executives
解释：随后的调查发现，高管在虚报利润超过10亿美元中扮演了重要角色。

[4]答案：A.There are still questions.
解释：在诉讼和定罚上的问题让投资者仍然谨慎，而不会只因为价低购入。