CHIBA – Toshiba Corp. Chairman and CEO Nobuaki Kurumatani outlined the company’s plans to improve earnings when he met with shareholders at an annual meeting Wednesday.
During the meeting, which was held at the Makuhari Messe convention center in the city of Chiba, Kurumatani said the major electronics- and machinery-maker will carry out procurement reforms and radical expense reductions.
He also said that the company aims to generate a profit stream from information analysis services, as well as sales of devices and parts, on a medium- to long-term basis.
Toshiba has faced excessive debt due to massive losses at its U.S. nuclear plant operations and narrowly escaped being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
It sold new shares worth ¥600 billion to investment funds and others in December last year. The company also sold Toshiba Memory Corp., its prized flash memory unit, for some ¥2 trillion on June 1.
While Toshiba’s financial condition has improved considerably, its earning power has been sharply impaired by the sale of its flash memory business, which was the company’s big moneymaker.
Some shareholders said that Toshiba’s plans did not contain anything new, while some called on Kurumatani and others to be more specific about their ideas for growth.
A 71-year-old shareholder said that he plans to pay more attention to which operations will help rebuild the company now that the primary source of revenue has gone.
All proposals, including the appointments of Kurumatani and other board members, were approved during the meeting, which lasted about two hours.