GM to pay parts suppliers a few days early-analyst

DETROIT, May 13 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp GM.N has told its North American parts suppliers that it would make its monthly payments to the companies on May 28, several days early and ahead of a government-imposed deadline of June 1 to restructure or file for bankruptcy, KeyBanc Capital Markets said.

The new payment date, moved forward from June 2, "incrementally increases the probability that GM will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection," KeyBanc analyst Brett Hoselton said in a report dated on Wednesday.

But it also suggests that parts suppliers would be financially supported by either the automaker or the U.S. government, mitigating the risk of a material disruption, he added.

GM representatives were not immediately available for comment.

GM is headed for either a bankruptcy filing by June 1 or an out-of-court restructuring that would cut debt and labor costs.

U.S. auto parts suppliers, already teetering on the brink of failure due to the near-total shutdown in North American production early this year, have been dealt a further blow after Chrysler has idled nearly all of its production following its bankruptcy filing on April 30.

GM is also idling 13 North American assembly plants for as long as nine weeks starting in mid-May.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

((soyoung.kim@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: soyoung.kim.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 313 967 1903)) Keywords: GM/SUPPLIERS

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