Toshiba said yesterday that it suffered a $4.4 billion full-year net loss as the troubled conglomerate booked a massive write-down of its US nuclear unit, but said the worst was over as it forecast profits for the current business year.

A once proud pillar of corporate Japan, Toshiba has been besieged by problems, most notably a profit-padding scandal in which bosses for years systematically pushed subordinates to cover-up weak financial results. In an intensive makeover effort, the company has been shedding businesses and announced in March it sold its medical devices unit to camera and office equipment maker Canon.

Toshiba said its net loss for the year to March soared to 483.2 billion yen ($4.4 billion) from 37.8 billion yen a year earlier. Sales decreased 7.3 percent to 5.7 trillion yen for the fiscal year, while it incurred a 719.1 billion yen operating loss, reversing from an operating profit of 188.4 billion yen a year earlier. Toshiba said the net loss was mainly due to a slump in its electric and social infrastructure sector, including nuclear power businesses, as well as extra costs related to its restructuring.