Toshiba shifts focus from nuclear to offset order delays
TOSHIBA said yesterday it may not reach its target of 39 orders for nuclear reactors until two to three years later than expected, and that it would increase focus on renewables as the crisis rumbles on at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Despite the setback, Toshiba said it aims to more than double its operating profit to 500bn yen (£3.7bn) by the year to March 2014.
Engineers are still battling to bring the Fukushima nuclear plant under control more than two months after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated a swathe of Japan’s coastline.
“If everyone around the world is against nuclear power, there is no point in us saying it is a pillar of our strategy,” Toshiba president Norio Sasaki said.
Toshiba has been trying to lower its dependence on nuclear power by investing in renewable energy sources.
It now targets sales of 350bn yen in solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and wind power, 900bn yen in smart grid products and 800bn yen in low-power consumption motors and batteries.
It said it could spend more than three trillion yen on capital outlays, research and M&A through 2014.