Olympus submits earnings to try and avoid delisting

Japan’s scandal-hit camera maker Olympus has filed revised earnings reports to try and avoid being delisted by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The firm filed reports going back five years, three hours before a deadline passed which would have seen it automatically delisted.

However, Olympus has not yet filed earnings for the year to March 2011.

The company could still be delisted because of its accounting irregularities.

In early November Olympus admitted that it had been hiding $1.5bn (£968m) in investment losses for almost two decades.

The deception came to light when former president and chief executive Michael Woodford challenged payments at the company.

Elaborate deception

Mr Woodford was fired in October after raising doubts about massive fees paid in the purchase of British medical equipment maker Gyrus Group in 2008.

He returned to Japan this week to meet investors to try and head a turnaround at the company.

Olympus has seen its fortunes slide after it fired Mr Woodford.

The ensuing investigation caused Olympus shares to plunge and forced its chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa to step down.

No one has yet been charged in the scandal.

Olympus has said several top executives were involved in the scheme and has promised to investigate former and current executives and auditors, and to pursue possible criminal charges.

Fees for financial advice and acquisitions were part of an elaborate deception to keep the massive losses off the company’s books.