Daewoo reduces losses

The South Korean car firm Daewoo Motor has reported a net loss of $2.73bn (£1.89bn) for 2001, a fall of 70% on the deficit recorded the previous year.

The struggling company is expected to be bought by US car maker General Motors within weeks after more than a year of talks.

GM signed an initial agreement to buy two Korean factories from Daewoo plus its overseas operations for $400m in September.

But analysts said the reduced loss would not add anything to the value of Daewoo.

"The numbers demonstrate the fruits of restructuring efforts, but they do not mean a special plus when it comes to takeover talks with GM," said Song Sang-hoon, car analyst with Dongwon Economic Research Institute.