Munich Re plans job cuts at HQ, in U.S.: CEO on intranet

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Munich Re (MUVGn.DE) is planning a job cuts at its headquarters and in the United States, according to an interview with the chief executive published on the company's intranet.

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)