Nidec Corp. Shares Slump After Annual Loss on $4 Billion Impairment

By Kosaku Narioka

Nidec Corp. shares slumped after reporting a heavy annual net loss due to a $4 billion impairment following an accounting scandal.

Shares were recently down 17% at 1,945 yen, equivalent to $12.36, in Tokyo's Thursday morning trade after falling as much as 20% earlier.

The Japanese maker of electric motors and other equipment said after Wednesday's market close that it recorded a net loss of 564.62 billion yen, equivalent to $3.59 billion, for the year ended March.

The company booked a Y632 billion impairment loss, citing a deterioration in its electric-vehicle motor business and excessive competition for motors used in household appliances in China, among other reasons.

Nidec's auditor, PwC Japan, declined to state its views on the financial statements. It said some of the officers and employees involved with previously disclosed irregular accounting still hold positions of responsibility in the financial reporting process.

The Japanese company in March published a report from a third-party committee that said many business units attempted to meet their performance targets by early recognition of sales, avoiding inventory valuation losses and impairment of fixed assets, changing asset valuation methods and capitalizing costs.

The company faces a risk of potential delisting. The Tokyo Stock Exchange placed Nidec's stock on special alert in October last year and said the company needed to improve internal controls or risk being delisted.

Daiwa Securities credit analyst Hiroki Uchida said a large impairment may have implications for Nidec's credit ratings. Still, excluding the one-off effect of impairment loss, the company likely booked a fiscal-year operating gain, suggesting demand for its motors is unlikely to have fallen significantly. Concerns about liquidity to redeem existing bonds continue to be limited, Uchida said.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 30, 2026 22:21 ET (02:21 GMT)