By Emmanuel Jarry and Benjamin Mallet
PARIS (Reuters) - French nuclear group Areva (PA:AREVA) plans to cut 15 percent of its wage bill to save 300 million euros ($337 million) a year within three years amid worsening sales prospects for its reactors, union sources briefed by the new management team said.
However, a complete financial turnaround plan for the group, which employs some 45,000 people, will not be ready for months, the sources said ahead of the company's results and strategic update on March 4.
The sources said Chief Executive Philippe Knoche told staff this week that the state-controlled company was likely to sell only about a dozen EPR reactors in total in the years up to 2030, down from 25 predicted previously.
Areva is weighed down by heavy debt and suffering from an industry slowdown, a lack of orders, and legal troubles over a nuclear installation in Finland.
Knoche and Chairman Philippe Varin were appointed in January to fix the company.
A takeover of the 87 percent state-owned Areva by much larger power utility EDF (PA:EDF) - its main customer and another state-backed group - is not part of any plan, the sources said, although closer ties are a possibility.
"We won't be merging with EDF but there will some government decisions made around the fact that our two businesses should become official partners," said one union official.
The sources said the March 4 results would likely offer the "broad principles" of the plan but not the details, which could be forthcoming by June.
Earlier this week French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said a capital increase for Areva was not a priority and ruled out selling state-held shares in EDF and another utility, GDF Suez (PA:GSZ), to finance support for the group.
His intervention followed Areva's fifth profit warning in seven months in which it said it expected to suffer a 4.9 billion euros ($5.6 billion) loss for 2015, hit by writedowns on the value of its assets.