(Adds confirmation of targets, share price)
PARIS, March 17 (Reuters) - French food group Danone does not need to make a large acquisition to pursue its development, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
"Danone does not need to make any transformation deal to be operational," Emmanuel Faber told the CAGE investor conference in London in comments broadcast online.
In December, Danone said it would keep its Medical Nutrition division, ending months of speculation that the world's largest yoghurt maker was trying to sell its smallest business to raise cash for acquisitions.
Danone could notably have used proceeds to help fund a takeover of U.S. infant formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition Group, a deal that sources have said it wants to pursue.
Danone, the maker of Activia and Actimel yoghurt, also reiterated on Tuesday that it expected underlying sales to rise between 4 and 5 percent this year, with a slight increase in its operating margin.
By 1004 GMT, Danone shares were down 0.11 percent at 62.59 euros, outperforming the CAC 40 Index of French blue-chips , which was down 0.26 percent.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by James Regan)