Investors wiped a fifth off Toshiba’s market value yesterday as they reassessed the company’s financial stability after its multibillion-dollar writedown warning.

投资者昨日抹去东芝(Toshiba)五分之一的市值，此前该公司警告将计提数十亿美元的损失，促使投资者重新评估其财务稳定性。

Fund managers in Tokyo and Hong Kong said the nuclear-to-electronics conglomerate — once among the proudest names in corporate Japan — was fighting for survival with its slack corporate governance and repeated disclosure failures having “probably permanently” lost it the trust of investors.

位于东京和香港的基金管理公司称，这家经营范围涵盖核电和电子的综合企业集团——曾经是日本企业的骄傲之一——正在为生存而挣扎，其松散的企业治理和一再出现的财务披露问题“很可能永远”使其丧失了投资者的信任。

As the shares sank 20 per cent under a glut of sell orders — and Japanese agency R&I downgraded Toshiba’s credit rating from BBB minus to BB — Tokyo traders said the market was trying to price in the possibility that Toshiba’s shareholder equity would be zero by the end of the current fiscal year in March.

随着大量卖盘导致股价下跌20%——同时日本评级机构R&I将东芝的信用评级从BBB-下调至BB级——东京交易员们表示，市场正试图在定价中计入这样一个可能性，即东芝的股东权益在3月本财年结束时将跌至零。

Bankers said efforts to shore up the company could involve a debt-for-equity swap, asset sales, big bank loans or other emergency measures.

银行人士称，支撑该公司的努力可能涉及债转股、资产出售、大额银行贷款或者其他紧急措施。

The plunge followed Toshiba’s warning the previous evening that it could book “several billion dollars” of impairment losses on part of its Westinghouse nuclear unit in the US — a key engine of efforts to revive its fortunes after a $1.3bn accounting scandal last year.

此轮股价下跌前晚，东芝警告称，可能在其美国西屋(Westinghouse)核电部门计提“数十亿美元”的资产减值损失。这块业务在去年东芝曝出13亿美元会计丑闻后出台的振兴计划中扮演着关键引擎的角色。

Kota Ezawa, an analyst at Citi, said: “We cannot say for sure that the nuclear plant construction business has a future.” More worryingly, said Mr Ezawa, was the perception that Toshiba had failed to address issues over its -disclosure and governance culture.

花旗(Citi)分析师绘泽浩太(Kota Ezawa)称：“我们无法确切地说这个核电站建设部门有未来。”绘泽浩太表示，更令人担忧的是，人们已经形成了东芝无法解决财务披露和治理文化问题的印象。

The latest impairment loss could be at least as large as the $2.3bn writedown Toshiba took on its nuclear business in April, and threatens the campaign by Satoshi Tsunakawa, the new chief executive, to rebuild investor confidence.

最新的减值损失可能至少与今年4月东芝对其核电业务减记23亿美元规模相当，危及新任首席执行官岗川智(Satoshi Tsunakawa)重建投资者信心的努力。

One buyside analyst calculated the eventual writedown could be closer to $5bn — wiping out Toshiba’s shareholder equity, which stood at ￥363bn ($3.1bn) at the end of September.

据一位买方分析师计算，最终减记规模可能接近50亿美元——抹掉东芝的全部股东权益（9月底该数字为3630亿日元，合31亿美元）。

Shares in Toshiba closed down 12 per cent on Tuesday before the company confirmed the writedown.

周二，在东芝证实考虑资产减记前，其股价收跌12%。

The risk, acknowledged by the company itself, lies in the damage the writedown will do to Toshiba’s already weak financial position and shareholder equity levels. “We would have needed to boost our capital base anyway because our shareholders’ equity ratio is low,” Mr Tsunakawa said.

该公司承认，风险在于减记将损害东芝已然脆弱的财务状况和股东权益水平。“我们无论如何都不得不增强我们的资本基础，因为我们的股东权益比率偏低，”岗川智表示。

Toshiba is expected to turn to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group, its main banks, for support once the scale of the impairment loss is calculated.

一旦计算好减值损失规模，预计东芝将争取其主要银行三井住友金融集团(Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group)和瑞穗金融集团 (Mizuho Financial Group)的支持。

The company acknowledged on Tuesday that it might reconsider the future of its nuclear business. Some specul-ate a restructuring could involve the sale of its flagship Nand memory business.

周二，该公司承认可能重新考虑其核电业务的未来。一些人推测，业务重组可能涉及出售东芝旗舰产品Nand闪存业务。

For their part, investors are focused on the as yet unknown size of the writedown, and analysts at Nomura Securities warn that with Toshiba yet to reveal the exact amount of the losses, “all the bad news is not out”.

就投资者而言，他们正聚焦于目前尚不得而知的减记规模。野村证券(Nomura Securities)的分析师警告称，东芝尚未公布具体的减值损失，“还有坏消息没到来”。