Toshiba seeks to replace auditor PwC

TOKYO • Toshiba wants to replace auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata (PwC) to resolve an impasse over full-year earnings and remain listed, two sources briefed on the matter said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was hired in June last year as part of major changes at Toshiba following a US$1.3 billion (S$1.8 billion) accounting scandal.

Ernst & Young ShinNihon, its auditor at the time, was fined for failing to spot irregularities.

Months later, Toshiba announced a separate US$6.3 billion write-down after dramatic cost overruns at its US nuclear business. That led to its Westinghouse nuclear unit to file for bankruptcy, and Toshiba to put its prized memory chip division on the block.

Toshiba and its auditor have been at odds since.

BLOOMBERG

Australia's inflation rate back on target

SYDNEY • Australia's annual inflation rate has moved back into the central bank's target range for the first time in more than two years, data showed yesterday, all but ruling out more interest rate cuts.

Consumer prices rose 0.5 per cent in the March quarter, taking the annual rate to 2.1 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. This was up from 1.5 per cent in the October-December period, but slightly below forecast.

The reading is within the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) 2-3 per cent target band for the first time since the September quarter of 2014, boosted by price rises for petrol and electricity, which was partly offset by a drop in the cost of fruit.

Analysts said the data reduced any likelihood of more cuts to interest rates, which are already at record lows, as the RBA juggles a booming property market with mixed economic data.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE