The reinsurer will "reduce internal complexity, increase efficiency and will cut jobs to achieve that", CEO Joachim Wenning said, according to a transcript of the interview seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Concrete steps will be presented this month.

Munich Re declined to comment on the interview, which was first reported by Versicherungsmonitor, a news organization focused on the insurance sector.

The number of job cuts would be a high three-digit figure, but well below 10 percent of employees in the affected groups, according to a source at Munich Re.

On Tuesday, Munich Re's fourth-quarter earnings and 2018 guidance fell short of analyst expectations and underscored a sluggish turnaround in reinsurance prices.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Tom Sims; Editing by Maria Sheahan)