Olympus recovers some losses
JAPAN’S disgraced Olympus saw its shares shoot up 20 per cent yesterday on the news it is suing its president and 18 other executives, past and present, for up to $47m (£30.4m) in compensation, as it struggles to recover from one of the nation’s worst accounting scandals.
The maker of cameras and medical equipment said yesterday all board members subject to the lawsuit would quit in March or April, leaving it in the extraordinary position for now of continuing with its most senior executive, Shuichi Takayama, and five other directors it is suing for mismanagement.
Olympus shares surged as much as 28 per cent on the news, with investors betting the company’s clean-up efforts would help it avoid a humiliating delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, in turn helping to ensure it stayed on bidders’ radars.
Investors also looked forward to the eventual renewal of the board and to Olympus finally drawing a line under a $1.7bn accounting fraud which has thrown a spotlight on Japan’s reputation for weak corporate governance.