BOCHUM/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp will adapt its strategy following a planned steel tie-up with India's Tata Steel, its chief executive said on Friday, responding to investor criticism that the elevators-to-submarines group is too unwieldy.
Speaking at the company's annual general meeting, which was overshadowed by key shareholders asking for a broader overhaul, Heinrich Hiesinger said the company's future development would be discussed at an annual strategy dialogue in May.
"Naturally Thyssenkrupp will look different with the establishment of the joint venture in the steel area. We will hone our strategic vision and also adapt our financial targets accordingly," Hiesinger said.
Shares in Thyssenkrupp rose following Hiesinger's remarks and were up 3 percent, one of the biggest gainers on Germany's blue-chip index, also helped by a reiteration of the group's full-year outlook.
Thyssenkrupp in September agreed to merge its European steel business with that of Tata Steel, saying global overcapacities had made a restructuring of the mainstay business necessary, but that has not stopped investors from asking for more changes.
Activist investor Cevian, Thyssenkrupp's second-largest shareholder with an 18 percent stake, has been the most vocal supporter of a further break-up of the group.
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Hiesinger, at the helm since 2011, has resisted that call so far. He did, however, signal that more changes to the group's set-up could follow.
"If we can improve a business ourselves within the group, we will do it. Wherever we see a better future for a business outside the group, we pursue this solution consistently," he said.
(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
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