Shares in beleaguered utility Tokyo Electric Power fell 9.26 percent by noon Monday in Tokyo trade after the company posted the biggest ever loss for a Japanese non-financial firm.
TEPCO said it had lost a record $15 billion in the financial year ended March and its under-fire president resigned to take responsibility for the worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.
Shares in the utility fell to 333 yen, down nearly 85 percent since the day before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, triggering reactor meltdowns.
The beleaguered utility posted an annual net loss of 1.247 trillion yen ($15 billion), the biggest ever for a non-financial Japanese firm. The company did not give an earnings forecast for the current financial year.
With compensation liabilities estimated at tens of billions of dollars, the utility warned the "significant deterioration" in its financial position "raises serious uncertainty" about its ability to continue as a going concern.
"The company said it has priced in as many costs as possible, but unfortunately, investors do not believe those words so uncertainty remains strong and shares are likely to continue being volatile," a senior portfolio manager at a Japanese asset management firm told Dow Jones Newswires.
The loss for Japan's biggest utility comes amid heavy criticism over its handling of the emergency, in which it faces massive compensation claims that have prompted the government to devise a rescue plan using public and industry funds.
"For TEPCO to pay compensation and to continue operating freely as a corporation, a limit to its damage payments would need to be established," said Nomura Securities analyst Shigeki Matsumoto
Other utilities were lifted by bargain-hunting. Chubu Electric Power was up 0.49 percent at 1,228 yen and Tohoku Electric Power gained 1.71 percent to 950.
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