The rating on Toshiba Corp. reflects the company's significant presence in a broad range of electronics markets in Japan, such as information and communication systems, social infrastructure systems, medical equipment, digital products, and electronic devices. The rating also reflects the company's technological strength and long-standing relationships with customers. These strengths are offset by the vulnerability of Toshiba's overall profitability to earnings fluctuations in electronic devices and digital media businesses. The rating also takes into consideration Toshiba's financial profile, which, despite showing some improvement, is still weak for the current rating category. As a result of restructuring measures commenced in fiscal 2001 (ended March 31, 2002), Toshiba's operating performance improved in fiscal 2002, with the operating margin before depreciation rising to
