TOKYO— Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it would record another hefty write-down connected to its U.S. nuclear business, clouding the company's plan for turning around after an accounting scandal in 2015.
The company confirmed local reports that it would book an impairment loss owing to a recalculation of the book value of a company purchased by Toshiba's U.S. nuclear subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric Co. It said the amount would be announced later.
Public broadcaster NHK said the loss could reach several hundred billion yen (several billion dollars), while the Nikkei newspaper said the loss would be about ¥100 billion ($ 850 million).
Westinghouse paid $ 229 million last year to acquire CB&I Stone & Webster Inc., a U.S. nuclear construction-and-nuclear services provider, from Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., a Netherlands-based engineering and construction company.
In July 2016, Chicago Bridge & Iron sued Westinghouse as part of a dispute over the value of the acquired unit's assets, Toshiba has said. The deal included the possibility of adjustments to the purchase price depending on the evaluation of the assets.
Toshiba's share price fell 12% on Tuesday as investors renewed their concerns about the company's earnings outlook. Toshiba executives have been signaling optimism on its nuclear reactor operating business, saying it would remain an important pillar despite the global trend away from nuclear power after the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan in 2011. Toshiba took a ¥260 billion impairment charge in its last fiscal year due to downgrading the book value of Westinghouse itself.
Toshiba earlier said it would earn ¥145 billion net profit for the year ending March 2017 thanks to an upturn in the computer memory chip business, another core unit.
However, the chip business is volatile and requires continuous large investments to keep up with industry leader Samsung Electronics Co. Further troubles in the nuclear business could make it harder for Toshiba to sustain its recent success.
In 2015 the company replaced its top management after acknowledging that it padded its financial results for years.
Write to Takashi Mochizuki at takashi.mochizuki@wsj.com
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