Tokyo bourse puts Olympus on delisting watch

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has put Japanese camera-maker Olympus on a watch list for possible delisting from the bourse after the company said Thursday it was likely to miss the Monday deadline for releasing its first-half earnings for the fiscal.

The company, which earlier in the week admitted to having falsified its books to hide hefty losses, has already delayed its earnings announcements. It has now said it will announce the results by 14 December by when an independent probe panel would have come out with its report.

''We will be waiting for the findings by the third-party committee, consider the adequacy of information disclosure and potential impact based on exchange's rules,'' said Kazuhiko Yoshimatsu, head of corporate communication at the TSE.

The company could be delisted if it fails to disclose the necessary details by 14 December and also if the probe panel indict it for falsifying its books.

Investors have been hammering the Olympus scrip on the TSE over the past few weeks, ever since the scandal – the biggest in Japan's corporate history – surfaced last month.

The company has lost nearly $6.5 billion in market capitalisation since mid-October, as the crisis has snowballed, taking it with top executives including the former chairman.