Fujifilm books bigger-than-expected loss on accounting 'irregularities'

Fujifilm on Monday announced it would take a bigger-than-expected loss from "accounting irregularities" at two subsidiaries, but described them as having only a minor impact on its finances. 

The news comes several months after Fujifilm -- which shifted into other businesses including the health sector after the plunge in photo film sales -- reported problems with the accounting at its Fuji Xerox New Zealand unit and launched a probe.

On Monday, Fujifilm said the investigation by an independent committee of experts also found problems with the number crunching at its Fuji Xerox Australia unit.

Fujifilm said the errors translated into a cumulative 37.5 billion yen ($340 million) impact on its finances over the past six years. That is up from a 22 billion yen forecast announced in April, which did not include accounting errors at the Australian business.

As a result, Fujifilm said it will book a 28.1 billion yen one-time net loss to account for the years long problems. 

But the company said its net profit in the year to March jumped 18 percent to 131.5 billion yen, up from 111.4 billion yen in the previous year, largely thanks to one-off share sales.

"The effect of (the) accounting practices on the financial results for the year ended March 2017 was minor," it said. 

Operating profit slipped 1.0 percent to 172.3 billion yen as sales fell 5.6 percent to 2.32 trillion yen. 

Shares in Fujifilm rose 1.61 percent to close at 4,028 yen.

Fujifilm's problems came after another Japanese giant, Toshiba, delayed its results repeatedly as it probed allegations of improper accounting at a US nuclear unit hammered by multi-billion-dollar losses.