Toshiba estimates bigger loss for past year on Westinghouse, lawsuits

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp said on Friday it now estimates a bigger loss for the past year ended in March due to potential legal damages over a $1.3 billion accounting scandal as well as an increase in liabilities at its now-bankrupt U.S. nuclear unit. The ailing industrial conglomerate said it expects to post a net loss of 995.2 billion yen (7.05 billion pounds), worse than its previous estimate of 950 billion yen. It said negative shareholder equity at end-March was likely 581.6 billion yen, bigger than a previously estimated 540 billion yen. It also said that it had received approval from regulators for an extension to file its annual earnings. The new deadline is Aug. 10. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)