Tepco president quits over nuclear crisis, firm reports $15 billion loss

Masataka Shimizu, the president of Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), which operates Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, has stepped down from his post on Friday.

Shimizu's decision to resign came after the company reported a loss of 1.25 trillion yen ($15.3 billion) for the past financial year. Last month, Shimizu hinted that he would resign as the nuclear emergency declined. He told reports on Friday that he wished to take managerial responsibility and bring a symbolic close to the crisis.

Tepco's managing director Toshio Nishizawa will replace Shimizu as the new president of the firm.

After the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the shares of Tepco have lost more than 80 percent of their value. In the previous financial year, the company had reported a profit of 134 billion yen ($1.63 billion). But, in this year to the end of March, a net loss of 1.25 trillion yen, which was the biggest in Japan's corporate history outside the financial sector.

While thousands of people in the region around the nuclear plant have been evacuated, the Japanese government has announced plans to create an entity to help Tepco compensate the victims of the nuclear crisis.