While Toshiba appears to have averted the risk of immediate delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange by submitting its annual financial results with sign-off by an auditor ahead of the deadline, the Japanese conglomerate's prospects of maintaining its listing remain far from certain.
On Thursday, Toshiba handed its financial results for the business year ended March 2017 to the Kanto Local Finance Bureau after missing the original deadline in June. The report came with a "qualified opinion" from auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC, which means that while the results contain minor problems, overall they are presented fairly.
PwC Aarata gave an "adverse" statement on the company's internal controls, however, saying it had overlooked massive losses related to the company's now-bankrupt U.S. unit.
"It's still hard to say that Toshiba has taken a huge step forward," said Masahiko Ishino, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center.
Ishino said the adverse opinion on its corporate governance overshadows the fact that Toshiba submitted the financial statement in time.
"It's a step forward and a step backward at the same time. … Uncertainty still hangs over whether Toshiba will be able to remain as a listed company or not."
Approval from PwC Aarata was hard won as the auditor and Toshiba disagreed on losses related to former U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
