Corus is back in profit this year

Alisher Usmanov, who owns a 13.4% stake in Corus, had been planning to try and have his own representative voted onto the board of the Anglo-Dutch group.

The Russian has now withdrawn his nomination in the face of opposition from the board and other shareholders.

But Mr Usmanov has said his backing down was only temporary.

He said changes were still needed at the top of loss-making Corus to refresh the business, and is believed to be in favour of reducing the company's steel making in the UK in favour of more production in the Nederland's.

"As shareholders we of course have an interest in the company ceasing to make losses," Mr Usmanov told BBC News.

"The board of directors led by chairman Jim Leng in my opinion is not the organ needed by Corus."

Takeover attempt

It is the Dutch side of the business that has made money in recent years, while the UK arm has made large losses.

However at its AGM, Corus announced that it had returned to overall operating profit in the first quarter of 2004, as its peformance continued to improve.

Mr Leng said the company had already been through a huge amount of positive reform and did not need the charges being urged by Mr Usmanov.

Mr Usmanov has made no secret of his ambitions to influence Corus' strategy.

What only he knows at present is whether his aim is to receive a higher return on his shares, to push for some sort of strategic link with his Russian interests, or the beginnings of a straight takeover attempt.

Mr Usmanov wanted to nominate Aad van der Velden, a former board member of Corus and its Dutch predecessor Hoogovens, to the Corus board.

'Unclear'

But in a statement, Gallagher, Mr Usmanov's investment vehicle, said it wanted shareholders to have more time to assess Mr van der Velden.

"Gallagher has held extensive consultations with other Corus shareholders some of whom have indicated that, whilst they are supportive of the proposal in principle, they would prefer to have more time to assess the merits of Mr Van der Velden's candidacy," it said.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Leng said he continued to be confused about the motivations of Mr Usmanov.

"Mr Usmanov knows what his intentions are, but I am still unclear," he said.

"The board of Corus had been fully refreshed in recent years and did not need further changes."