SsangYong Motor Q4 net losses widen on weaker demand

SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) -- SsangYong Motor Co. on Friday said its net losses widened in the fourth quarter from a year earlier due to lower demand.

For the October-December quarter, net losses deepened to 155.9 billion won (US$130 million) from 4 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.

"Decreased exports and increased marketing costs amid tougher competition with bigger domestic rivals resulted in the net losses," the statement said.

Operating losses also deepened to 99.8 billion won in the fourth quarter from 3.5 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 13 percent to 919.2 billion won from 1.05 trillion won over the same period.

For the whole of 2019, net losses deepened to 341.4 billion won from 61.8 billion won in the previous year. Operating losses widened to 281.9 billion won from 64.2 billion won, while sales fell 2.2 percent to 3.62 trillion won from 3.7 trillion won.

SsangYong Motor sold 135,235 vehicles, down 5.6 percent from 143,309 units a year earlier. Its lineup is composed of the flagship G4 Rexton, as well as the Tivoli, Korando and Rexton Sports.

Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. owns a 74.65 percent stake in SsangYong Motor.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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