英國《金融時報》
原文閱讀精選集Vol.4

東芝發布延期財報:凈虧378億日元

今年7月，東芝因為造假、虛報利潤高達30億美元引爆了日本史上最大的會計丑聞，社長田中久雄為此引咎辭職。事件也造成了東芝原定8月披露的財報延期，直至9月7日發布了2014財年財報：整個財年的凈虧損額為378億日元(約合人民幣20.2億元)。此消息一出，市場一片嘩然，東芝公司虧損在哪里，它在哪里又是賺錢的？

 

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

fallout 后果

fiscal 財政的

net loss 凈損失

impairment 減值

amendments 修正案

 

閱讀馬上開始，建議您計算一下閱讀整篇文章所用的時間，對照下方的參考值就可以評估出您的英文閱讀水平。

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.

 

請根據你所讀到的文章內容，完成以下自測題目：

 

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
解釋：文章第一段，東芝公司的會計丑聞可追溯到7年之前。

[2]答案：B.nuclear
解釋：文章第二段投資者說，公司必須做更多的工作來消除關于其核和半導體方面的關注。

[3]答案：C.senior executives
解釋：隨后的調查發現，高管在虛報利潤超過10億美元中扮演了重要角色。

[4]答案：A.There are still questions.
解釋：在訴訟和定罰上的問題讓投資者仍然謹慎，而不會只因為價低購入。