* Saab CEO to retire as of May 19
* Q4 net loss 39 mln euros vs Q3 loss of 39.9 mln
* Issues 5.55 mln shares or 32 pct of outstanding capital
* Russian banker is Spyker CEO financier,will be shareholder
* Spyker shares down 4.5 pct, underperform small cap index
(Adds Muller, Jonsson comments, Spyker shares, detail on proposed CFO not joining Saab)
By Gilbert Kreijger
AMSTERDAM, March 25 (Reuters) - The Dutch parent of Swedish premium carmaker Saab lost a top executive and is plugging its balance sheet with fresh cash to stem another year of losses, sparking doubts over the company's long-term future.
Spyker Cars, which is selling its own niche sports car business to fund Saab's operations, said Chief Executive Victor Muller would take over at Saab temporarily after the surprise retirement of CEO Jan Ake Jonsson.
"This is certainly a negative. He is a very experienced manager and it will be very difficult to find a proper replacement. That is not positive," AEK analyst Martin Crum said. "It will make it more difficult than before."
At the same time proposed CFO Nils-Johan Andersson will no longer be joining Saab from Swedish firm Lindab, Saab said. Spyker Cars director Rob Schuyt will be acting CFO.
The Dutch company is now raising another 32 million euros by increasing its stock capital by a third while Muller will swap a loan of some 10 million euros into equity to keep Saab afloat.
Spyker bought Saab last year and has so far sunk about 120 million euros into it, excluding commitments to former parent General Motors totalling about 230 million euros.
Analysts believe Spyker, which has never made a profit since starting operations in 2000, faces a tough challenge to restore Saab, which has posted losses for about 20 straight years.
More than a decade of underinvestment meant Saab was trying to compete in a highly competitive European luxury car market with its ageing 9-5 model, prompting sales to dwindle to less than 5 percent of BMW's annual volumes.
Saab has now rejuvenated the model which Muller intends to roll out to China and Russia in an ambitious foray into regions where the brand traditionally has had little presence.
"Saab may possibly be able stave off insolvency for another year or so by living hand to mouth, but it hardly has any chance of surviving against the established competition," said Stefan Bratzel, Director of the Center for Automotive in Germany's University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach.
"It's best chance is that a Russian or Chinese rival may be interested in acquiring the technology and the brand," he said.
Jonsson is stepping down in the middle of its restructuring and a full year before the brand plans to staunch its losses.
Muller told reporters the split was not due to an argument over the company's future.
"In no way do we have different opinions where Saab should go," the Spyker CEO said, adding Jonsson had already signalled his desire to leave a couple of months ago.
Muller reaffirmed Saab would sell 80,000 cars this year versus about 30,000 last year. By 2012, the company expects to be profitable again on volumes of 120,000 vehicles.
Muller now needs the open backing of deep-pocketed Russian entrepreneur Vladimir Antonov, who originally planned to fund Spyker's purchase of Saab but was forced by GM to take a less prominent, backseat role in the deal amid accusations of money laundering.
The Russian, a business partner of Muller who is also buying Spyker's own brand of high-end sports cars, said on Thursday he was aiming to return as a near 30 percent shareholder in Spyker.
Antonov has denied the allegations of money laundering and has said independent investigations have cleared his name.
"He will come back one way or another," Muller said. (Additional reporting by Patrick Lannin in Stockholm and Aaron Gray-Block in Amsterdam; Editing by David Cowell)