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Bloomberg) Tokyo Electric Power Co. may report a record 1.5 trillion yen ($18 billion) loss today and replace President Masataka Shimizu, 10 weeks after an earthquake and tsunami crippled its Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
The result would be the largest corporate loss in Japan’s history, according to Takayuki Atake, the chief credit analyst at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. in Tokyo. Katsutoshi Chikudate, 69, will replace Shimizu, 66, who will resign to take responsibility for the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986, the newspaper reported. Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 71, will remain, the paper said.
The Fukushima plant north of Tokyo has been spewing radiation since the March 11 quake and tsunami damaged power and cooling systems, causing at least one of six reactors to melt down. Management of Tepco, as the company’s known, has been criticized by the government and academics for its handling of the crisis and the claims against the company may be as high as 11 trillion yen. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/tepco-may-report-japan-s-largest-corporate-loss-after-fukushima-disaster.html