神戶制鋼承認數(shù)據(jù)偽造丑聞蔓延至核心業(yè)務

Japan’s Kobe Steel said a data falsification scandal that has affected more than 200 customers and wiped 40 per cent off the company’s market value since Monday extended into its core steel business.

日本神戶制鋼(Kobe Steel)表示，數(shù)據(jù)偽造丑聞蔓延至其核心的鋼鐵業(yè)務。這樁丑聞影響到逾200家客戶，并導致該公司市值自本周一以來蒸發(fā)40%。

Friday’s admission by the embattled Japanese group, which experts said could expand the legal and financial implications of the crisis, comes a day after Hiroya Kawasaki, chief executive, publicly played down suggestions that it had sold steel products with false inspection certificates.

這家陷入困境的日本企業(yè)周五作出上述承認的一天前，其社長川崎博也(Hiroya Kawasaki)曾在公開場合淡化有關該公司銷售過帶虛假檢驗證書的鋼鐵產(chǎn)品的說法。專家表示，該公司的上述承認可能會加大此次危機的法律和財務影響。

Earlier this week, analysts warned investors that because Kobe’s internal investigation would look back 10 years, the scope of the problem was likely to extend into other products.

本周早些時候，分析師警告投資者稱，因神戶制鋼的內(nèi)部調(diào)查將回溯到10年前，這個問題很可能會波及到其他產(chǎn)品。

Mr Kawasaki, addressing revelations that Kobe had sold across a swath of industrial sectors some 19,300 tonnes of aluminium and copper products that did not conform with their stated specifications, said on Thursday that trust in his company had “fallen to zero”.

周四，川崎在就有關神戶制鋼向多個工業(yè)領域銷售了約1.93萬噸不符其申明規(guī)格的鋁銅產(chǎn)品的披露發(fā)表講話時表示，外界對其公司的信任已“降至零”。

A day later — amid concerns that Kobe may face punishing costs for replacing falsely certified materials — it emerged that the company’s internal investigations into historic falsification of product certificates were being conducted across all divisions.

一天后，有消息稱，神戶制鋼對過往偽造產(chǎn)品證書的內(nèi)部調(diào)查涉及所有部門。外界擔心，該公司可能要下血本來更換帶虛假證書的材料。

The company said it had “not yet come to the stage” of firing anyone over the scandal but that investigations were focused on “some tens of personnel” across the company. Despite the damage to Kobe’s share price, no customer has yet linked purchases of falsely certified products with any safety issues.

神戶制鋼表示，公司“尚未到”就此次丑聞開除什么人的階段，但調(diào)查聚焦在全公司的“數(shù)十名人員”身上。盡管該公司股價受創(chuàng)，但目前還沒有客戶將買了帶虛假證書的產(chǎn)品與任何安全問題聯(lián)系起來。

Kobe, whose customers include global carmakers, white goods producers, high-tech manufacturers and major aircraft builders, said it had found irregularities in product certificates relating to steel wire — a material used, among many other functions, to strengthen tyres. Kobe said it had contacted customers that had purchased the steel wire and been told that no quality or safety problems had arisen.

神戶制鋼的客戶包括全球汽車制造商、白色家電制造商、高科技制造商和大型飛機建造商。該公司表示，已發(fā)現(xiàn)與鋼絲有關的產(chǎn)品證書有不正常之處。鋼絲具有很多用途，其中之一是增強輪胎的強度。神戶制鋼表示，該公司已聯(lián)系購買過鋼絲的客戶，并被告知沒有出現(xiàn)任何質量或安全問題。

The company will hold an emergency press conference later on Friday to provide further details to a market that had previously viewed Kobe as a prime example of Japanese precision material makers’ technical superiority over international competitors. Kobe has substantial global market share in a selection of steel wire products.

該公司將于周五晚些時候召開緊急記者招待會，以向市場提供進一步細節(jié)。市場過去一直把神戶制鋼視為日本精密材料制造商技術比國際競爭對手卓越的最佳例證。該公司在全球一系列鋼絲產(chǎn)品領域占據(jù)大量市場份額。

Mio Kato, an analyst at Smartkarma, said further details on the actions surrounding the sale of steel wire would be critical as the product was routinely used in parts of automobiles instrumental in preventing accidents.

Smartkarma分析師Mio Kato表示，圍繞鋼絲銷售所采取的行動的進一步細節(jié)將至關重要，這種產(chǎn)品常用于有助于防止事故的汽車零部件。

“If these parts are compromised from a safety perspective, recalls will be mandatory and the costs significant. Damage to the company’s business prospects with its auto customers will also be severe,” he said.

他表示：“如果這些零部件的安全性打了折扣，那么召回將是必須的，成本將是高昂的。該公司與其汽車客戶的生意往來前景也將嚴重受損。”