Panasonic to invest in Olympus, news agency reports

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Another funeral for a camera company.

N Y TIMES today

Published: June 8, 2012
Michael C. Woodford, a former chief executive of the Olympus Corporation, will receive £10 million ($15.4 million) in a settlement over his dismissal from the company. Olympus, the Japanese camera and medical equipment maker, also announced that it would cut nearly 3,000 jobs. Mr. Woodford, a Briton, was fired in October after he disclosed dubious accounting at Olympus. The company, which is based in Tokyo, has acknowledged that it hid $1.7 billion in investment losses dating back to the 1990s. Mr. Woodford sued in a British court, accusing Olympus of unlawful firing and discrimination in not treating him the same way as a Japanese executive. Olympus said Friday that it would cut 2,700 jobs, or 7 percent of its global work force, by the end of March 2014 as part of its cost-cutting efforts. It will scrap about 40 percent of its 30 manufacturing plants around the world by the end of March 2015. The company forecast a profit of 7 billion yen ($88.6 million) for the fiscal year through March 2013. It had a loss of 49 billion yen ($620 million) for the previous year.