Japan: Tepco chief resigns after posting historic $15 billion loss

Japan: Tepco chief resigns after posting historic $15 billion loss

2011-05-20 21:12:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) on Friday announced the resignation of its president Masataka Shimizu after the company registered a historic loss of ¥1.25 trillion ($15.3 billion) in the 2010 fiscal year.

Managing Director Toshio Nishizawa will be replacing Shimizu as the company's president, Tepco said, adding that a board meeting on June 28 would formalize the announcement.

During a press conference, Shimizu said he would resign in order to take responsibility for damaging the confidence and trust in nuclear power and causing trouble for society, following the March 11 9.0-magnitude earthquake that damaged Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that caused Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis.

Tepco's 2010 fiscal year (from April 1, 2010 to March 31) increased 7 percent from the previous fiscal year to ¥5.36 billion ($65.6 billion), the company said, stating that its operating profit increased by 40.5 percent to ¥399.6 billion ($4.9 billion).

However, its ¥1.25 trillion loss is the biggest in history by a non-financial Japanese company.

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