Tokyo Electric Power Co is set to book a record annual net loss on Friday due to the accident at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and its top executive will resign to take responsibility for the handling of the crisis, Japanese media reported.

The utility, also known as Tepco, will likely book about a 1 trillion yen ($12.3 billion) net loss for its fiscal year that ended in March after booking costs for scrapping reactors at the tsunami-crippled nuclear complex and writing off tax assets, the Nikkei business daily reported.

That would mark the largest annual loss ever reported by a Japanese company, excluding financial institutions, the paper said.

TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu will step down, to be replaced by senior executive Katsutoshi Chikudate, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

The company is set to announce personnel moves and brief on its fiscal results at 0630 GMT.

A Tepco spokesman declined to comment on the reports.

Tepco faces a huge bill after the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11 knocked out its Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing radiation to leak, local residents to evacuate and power shortages across areas of the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The power firm is likely to sell assets worth about 600 billion yen to help cover costs associated with the hobbled nuclear plant, including shares it holds in telcom KDDI Corp as well as real estate, and other non-core businesses, the Nikkei said.

(Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Energy