PARIS (Reuters) - State-controlled nuclear group Areva (>> AREVA) must lay out its industrial strategy and clearly present its financial situation before the French state will consider any financial operation, Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron told Reuters on Tuesday.

Ahead of the company's full-year results publication and strategy news on Wednesday, Macron did not rule out asset sale announcements, but he refused to be specific.

"The company must present its operational and strategic choices before the state will rush into any financial operations," Macron said.

Asked whether the state was considering a capital increase, Macron said "the priority for the company is to clearly present its real financial and operational situation and to put in place a turnaround plan before any operation whatsoever can be considered".

Union sources told Reuters that Areva's new management team of Chief Executive Philippe Knoche and Chairman Philippe Varin was unlikely to make major announcements about possible alliances or asset sales on Wednesday.

"Tomorrow will not be a day for big announcements, it will be just a stage in the game," one union leader said.

In a briefing to unions late on Tuesday, Knoche gave no details about possible job cuts but said that Areva would cooperate more closely with state-owned utility EDF (>> EDF) and focus more strongly on its core nuclear business, union leaders said.

One union source said Areva would announce a reinforcement of its activities in China and said management had indicated that new investors could enter into the firm's capital, but had not given a deadline.

The French state owns 87 percent of the capital of Areva, which said last week it would book a 4.9 billion euro ($5.48 billion) 2014 loss due to depreciations and writedowns.

Last week, Macron shot down the possibility of selling shares in EDF or GDF Suez (>> GDF SUEZ) to raise funds for a capital injection.

He declined to comment on whether the state could use part of the billion euros raised by the sale of a 4 percent stake in defense group Safran (>> SAFRAN) on Monday.

Union sources told Reuters on Friday that areva plans to cut 15 percent of its wage bill.

($1 = 0.8949 euros)

(Writing by Geert De Clercq; Editing by James Regan)

By Jean-Baptiste Vey, Benjamin Mallet and Emmanuel Jarry

Stocks treated in this article : SAFRAN, GDF SUEZ, EDF, AREVA