UPDATE 2-Metro CEO pressured to hand over reins -sources

* Haniel asks Cordes not to seek extension -sources

* Cordes' contract due to expire Oct. 2012

* Haniel CEO had earlier backed Cordes (Rewrites throughout, adds analyst comment, updates shares)

By Matthias Inverardi

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Metro Chief Executive Eckhard Cordes has lost the support of key shareholder Haniel and may resign, just as the world's fourth-largest retailer enters a final restructuring phase, sources told Reuters on Monday.

Representatives of Haniel, the German family-owned investment company that owns 34 percent of the Duesseldorf-based retailer, have signalled to Cordes he should say this month that he will not seek an extension to his contract, due to expire in October 2012, four people familiar with the matter said.

"The Haniel side is disgruntled," one of the sources said.

While Juergen Kluge, Haniel's chief executive and Metro chairman, had this month backed Cordes, the family behind the Haniel conglomerate has now withdrawn its support, magazine Der Spiegel reported this weekend .

Cordes, a car specialist and turnaround expert, has come under pressure on several fronts this year.

Along with a row over management and shareholder rights at Metro's majority-owned consumer electronics unit MediaMarkt-Saturn, Cordes has failed to find a buyer for department store unit Kaufhof and hypermarkets chain Real.

He has also been criticised by the group's labour representatives over job cuts.

Commerzbank analyst Juergen Elfers said the way Cordes had come under fire from various sides was unprecedented for a DAX-listed company's CEO, and that a resignation in the final part of the group's Shape 2012 restructuring could leave a power gap.

Planet Retail analyst Boris Planer, said of Cordes. "If he doesn't get the contract extended, he's effectively a lame duck and may leave sooner."

Metro, which runs more than 2,100 stores in 33 countries, may seek a successor with more retail experience.

One source said Metro had sounded out Thomas Huebner, formerly CEO of the cash & carry international unit, who was in June appointed by French retailer Carrefour to head its operations in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Poland and Romania.

Joel Saveuse, head of Metro's cash & carry business in Europe, could take the role on an interim basis, another source said.

Haniel, Metro and Carrefour declined to comment.

Haniel, which traces its roots back some 255 years, also holds a 55 percent stake in Celesio (CLSGn.DE), Europe's biggest drugs distributor and owner of Britain's Lloyds pharmacy chain.

SHAPING UP

Cordes is known for his tough stance on underperformers and moves from the father of four sons to sell the MediaMarkt-Saturn France operations and close stores in Germany were welcomed by investors.

Shares in Metro have slumped 47 percent this year on fears of weak consumer spending and as investors worry falling sales at MediaMarkt-Saturn could weigh on its target to grow profit 10 percent to about 2.66 billion euros ($3.65 billion) this year.

Metro shares were down 2.6 percent at 27.68 euros at 1433 GMT. When Cordes took over in November 2007, the shares were trading at around 61 euros.

Bernstein analyst Chris Hogbin said he would be surprised if Cordes went early and that a lot of the issues facing Metro were out of his control.

"In many ways, Shape 2012 has done pretty well. You can't blame him for the macroeconomic collapse," he said, yet adding that a retail specialist at the helm would probably be positive.

" To restructure a business is difficult, but Metro's financial results have actually not been so bad when looking at the broader market environment ," said Planet Retail's Planer.

Cordes has spent most of his professional life at Daimler (DAIGn.DE), having joined the group as a trainee in 1976. He helped negotiate Daimler-Benz's merger with Chrysler in 1998.

One of his mantras of late has been to warn of the "sweet poison of success", especially when discussing MediaMarkt-Saturn, once the star performer of the Metro group and which has been slow to move into lucrative online sales.

($1 = 0.729 Euros) (Additional reporting by Victoria Bryan in Frankfurt, Mark Potter in London and Dominique Vidalon in Paris. Editing by Jane Merriman)