Olympus Corp remains untraded after admitting it hid losses

Olympus Corp, the Japanese camera maker which accepted it hid losses due to inflated takeover fees, has remained untraded but is said to be poised to rise by its daily limit in Tokyo following a report that the company would pay a levy and avoid delisting.

The company's shares were down 5 per cent to ¥460 on Friday, 11 October, considering the year-to-date loss for the stock to 81 per cent.

According to some analysts, investors were buying back the shares on reports of Olympus avoiding delisting. They add there might some speculators putting in buy orders, too.

According to Reuters, which cited an unnamed source, the Japanese securities watchdog may recommend the imposition of a levy on Olympus for false financial reports, which could prevent delisting of the company shares.

The company admitted last week that three of its top executives had acted in collusion to hide losses, after weeks of denying that there had been wrongdoing in past acquisitions.

In an admission of wrongdoing, Olympus, the world's biggest maker of endoscopes, last week said it concealed losses by paying $687 million to advisers on a 2008 acquisition (See: Camera-maker Olympus admits to window-dressing books).