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SKorean bank: Ssangyong aid depends on China owner
By KWANGTAE KIM,Associated Press Writer AP - 1 hour 44 minutes ago
SEOUL, South Korea - Korea Development Bank won't provide financial assistance to Ssangyong Motor unless the troubled South Korean company's Chinese parent does so first, a senior official at the bank said Tuesday.
In other blows for the automaker, a local credit agency downgraded the company's rating to "junk" and its shares fell.
A senior official with state-run KDB, Ssangyong's main bank, said Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. _ the Chinese parent company _ should first give financial aid of 320 billion won ($245 million) to Ssangyong before seeking help from South Korea.
He said that KDB would consider giving assistance if it receives what he called "feasible plans to normalize Ssangyong Motor." The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
Ssangyong, South Korea's fifth-largest automaker, is far smaller than domestic industry leaders Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. but with the global auto industry in a perilous state, its fate is being closely watched.
The company, which has annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles and 7,100 employees, posted a net loss of 98.1 billion won ($77.9 million) in the first nine months of this year amid weakening domestic demand for SUVs _ Ssangyong's mainstay vehicles. The company also produces the Chairman luxury sedan.
Shanghai-based SAIC, which holds about a 51-percent stake in Ssangyong, has been under pressure to provide financial aid to the company. A South Korean government official said Friday that SAIC sought the government's help to ensure KDB offers new loans to Ssangyong.
The two automakers have been in negotiations over new capital but the process has been complicated by a demand from Ssangyong's labor union that company management step down. The union recently held a protest at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.
Chung Mu-young, a Ssangyong spokesman, denied media speculation that SAIC plans to pull out of South Korea and that the Chinese company had demanded that Ssangyong cut some 2,000 employees.
"There are many, many Korean reports, but SAIC prefers to keep quiet at this moment," said a staffer at SAIC's press department in Shanghai, who gave only her surname, Wang.
Separately, a South Korean credit rating agency Tuesday downgraded Ssangyong's rating two notches to "junk" status.
Korea Investors Service lowered the automaker's long-term debt rating to BB from BBB- with a "negative" outlook, meaning there is a greater chance of the rating being further downgraded.
The move reflected "Ssangyong's sales drop amid a sharp decline in domestic demand for cars" and "increased uncertainty over financial aid by its major shareholder," Korea Investors Service said in a report, referring to SAIC.
Kim Do-shik, chief analyst at Korea Investors Service, said his agency could further lower Ssangyong's rating unless it receives support from SAIC.
Some 400 members of Ssangyong's labor union vowed to thwart any plan to cut the labor force, and called on SAIC to make what it says was a promised investment in Ssangyong worth 1.2 trillion won.
"We declare we will fight to protect our right to livelihood," Han Sang-kyun, leader of the Ssangyong union, said at a rally inside the company's main plant in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Seoul.
Shares in Ssangyong Motor fell 4 percent to close at 960 won Tuesday, the final trading day of 2008.
__
Associated Press researcher Ji Chen in Shanghai contributed to this report.
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