Toshiba to undergo strategic review, unit hit by cyberattack in Europe

Japan’s Toshiba said on Friday, May 14, it would undergo a strategic review that comes after it dismissed a $20 billion buyout bid, while a unit said its European business was hit by a cyberattack.

Toshiba Tec Corporation, which makes point-of-sale systems and copiers, said it had been hacked.

Public broadcaster NHK said the perpetrator was DarkSide, the group the US FBI blamed for the Colonial Pipeline attack. Security firm Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions had noted that DarkSide had put out a statement on its dark web site claiming responsibility, NHK said.

Toshiba said it was setting up a strategic review committee to consider ways to increase corporate value and had appointed UBS as financial adviser.

It also forecast on Friday a hefty 63% rise in annual operating profit after pandemic-induced pain in the last year and as restructuring measures bear fruit.

It is expecting 170 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in operating profit for the year to end-March, which compares with a consensus estimate of 179 billion yen drawn from 13 analysts polled by Refinitiv.

For the year just ended, Toshiba posted a 20% slide in operating profit to 104.4 billion yen. – Rappler.com