UDPATE 1-Salzgitter CEO says more optimistic for 2009 now

* Says business improved in May vs previous months

* Says capacity utilization to be increased to 75-80 percent

* CEO says still sees 2009 pre-tax break-even

* Shares rise 1.4 percent

(Adds details, share price)

BRAUNSCHWEIG, Germany, May 27 (Reuters) - Salzgitter (SZGG.DE), Germany's second-largest steelmaker, is a little more optimistic for its business in 2009 now than before, Chief Executive Wolfgang Leese said on Wednesday.

Business in May had been better than it had been since November 2008 and would become more stable later in the year, Leese said at the company's annual shareholder meeting.

Global steel demand and prices have tumbled drastically since late last year, and steelmakers in Germany -- Europe's largest steelmaking nation -- responded by cutting production by 43 percent between January and April.

Salzgitter aims to increase capacity utilization at its factories to 75-80 percent from currently 30-50 percent and did not see the need to put more workers on shortened working hours to cut costs and output.

Currently, 9000 workers have shortened working hours.

He reiterated that he expected the company to reach about break-even at a pre-tax level this year if markets recovered in the second half of 2009.

Shares of Salzgitter advanced 1.4 percent at 64.801 euros by 0939 GMT, while the German midcap .MDAXI index was up 1.6 percent.

Salzgitter swung to a first-quarter pretax loss of 98.3 million euros from a profit of 292 million in the year-earlier quarter after it wrote down the value of some inventory.

ThyssenKrupp (TKAG.DE), the top steelmaker in Germany, had downgraded its 2009 forecast after its second-quarter pretax loss and new orders came in worse than expected.

Salzgitter trades at 30.2 times its forward 12-month earnings, a slight discount to the 30.7 multiple of ThyssenKrupp, but a premium to the 21.7 multiple of ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS), according to StarMine.

Salzgitter is 26.5 percent owned by the German state of Lower Saxony, and 10 percent are in the the hands of the company itself. The rest is free float. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze)