TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan's largest electric utility company Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc, also known as Tepco, has decided to promote Executive Vice President Masataka Shimizu to replace Tsunehisa Katsumata as president of the troubled power company, the Nikkei reported on the weekend, without citing sources.
Shimizu, 63, is expected to take the helm at the end of June, while Katsumata, 67, will become chairman with representative rights. Chairman Shigemi Tamura, 69, will retire, the business daily said.
Shimizu has spent the bulk of his career in material procurement, but is well-versed in overall operations.
Tepco's net profit is projected to plunge into the red for the first time in 28 years in the year to March 2008, partly because of an earthquake in July that halted operations at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
(1 US dollar = 106.84 yen)
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