BlueScope Steel's new chief executive has promised to cut costs by another $150 million a year in a bid to woo investors after Australia's largest steelmaker rebuffed an American-Australian consortium's takeover offer.
Tania Archibald started her role as BlueScope's managing director and chief executive on Monday, replacing Mark Vassella who has retired after eight years leading the Melbourne-based group.
In a video posted on social media, the company's first woman CEO said BlueScope would streamline leadership and functional teams within the organisation to deliver a "simpler, leaner, more agile BlueScope that delivers value."
She didn't say how many jobs would be lost but said details would be put in place by the end of this financial year.
BlueScope owns the Port Kembla steelworks in NSW as well as key US assets.
The $150 million cost savings target is on top of a $200 million cost and productivity savings program that's nearly completed.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Owen Birrell said the announcement was clearly designed to win over shareholders by explaining how BlueScope expects to deliver improved earning performance and support the company's stock price in the absence of a subsequent bid.
The "highly defensive" rhetoric from BlueScope's board and support from majority shareholders had set a very high hurdle for any new bid to be successful, Mr Birrell said.
In the video, Ms Archibald also pledged to take BlueScope into a new era "with a relentless focus on our customers, our shareholders, our people and our communities".
She said she wanted to simplify how BlueScope operates, cut costs, realise the value of BlueScope's 1200-hectare surplus land portfolio and increase shareholder returns.
BlueScope is already on track to pay a special dividend of $1 per share from February 24, after its interim results are released on February 16.
"Shareholders have been patient," she said.
"That patience is now being rewarded."
Ms Archibald was named to the position on November 5 after a 30-year career at BlueScope, including as chief financial officer and most recently as CEO of its Australian steel business.
BlueScope's board on January 7 unanimously rejected what it called a "highly opportunistic" $13.2 billion takeover proposal from the Stokes family-controlled SGH and US steelmaker Steel Dynamics.
Ms Archibald reiterated that the $30 per share offer materially undervalued the company and was an attempt to acquire BlueScope's world-class assets in the US, Australia and New Zealand at a price that didn't reflect their true worth.
"The board is open to engaging with any proposal that genuinely reflects BlueScope's fundamental value," she said.
"But we're not sitting here waiting.
"We're getting on the front foot to accelerate the delivery of BlueScope's value."
Steel Dynamics co-founder, chairman and CEO Mark Millett said during an earnings call on January 26 that the group's pursuit of the assets was strategic, not opportunistic.
"We pay fair value for good businesses that enhance value for all constituents," he said, arguing the consortium had made a compelling offer that valued BlueScope above what its share price had realised over 15 years.
Steel Dynamics was, he argued, the logical owner of BlueScope's coveted North Star operation, known as a "mini-mill" because it uses scrap steel to produce hot-rolled coil at a lower cost base than integrated mills.
Mr Millett didn't say what the company's next move would be.
BlueScope shares finished Monday down 1.5 per cent to $29.79, just under the consortium's $30-per-share offer.
The SGH-Steel Dynamics offer was made on December 12, but only came to light on January 5 when it was also revealed Steel Dynamics had made three unsuccessful previous approaches to take control of BlueScope.
