Auditors favor survival of Ssangyong Motor, court says

Auditors favor survival of Ssangyong Motor, court says
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details, CHANGES headline)
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean court said Wednesday that auditors
favored the survival of Ssangyong Motor Co. over its liquidation, raising hopes
that the troubled automaker's restructuring plan will keep it afloat.

"Ssangyong Motor's continued existence is valuable," said a bankruptcy judge at
the Seoul Central District Court, citing audit results by the accounting firm
Samjong KPMG Inc.
The value of rescuing Ssangyong, which has been under bankruptcy protection since
February, stood at 1.32 trillion won (US$1.03 billion), compared with the 938.6
billion won to be gained from liquidating the company, according to the court.
Creditors of Ssangyong will meet on May 22 to decide on whether to save or
liquidate the carmaker.
As part of its turnaround bid, Ssangyong, the smallest automaker in South Korea,
announced a plan to cut 36 percent of its workforce, or 2,646 jobs.
Ssangyong was abandoned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) in January
after the Chinese parent refused to make any major effort to save its affiliate.
Ssangyong, which has an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles, posted a
net loss of 709.7 billion won in 2008 on sales of 2.5 trillion won, down 20
percent from a year earlier.
In the first three months of this year, Ssangyong's vehicle sales dived 76
percent to 6,471 units.
With the bankruptcy protection, SAIC, which still owns a 51-percent stake in
Ssangyong, relinquished its control of the South Korean carmaker.
(END)