Swiss Re , the world's second-larger reinsurer, said on Thursday it plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce over the next 12 months in a bid to cut costs by 400 million Swiss francs ($349.6 million) by 2010.

Zurich-based Swiss Re also said it would promote Agostino Galvagni to be chief operating officer.

Swiss Re intends to reduce its current global headcount of 11,560 by approximately 10 percent over the next twelve months, the reinsurer said in a statement.

It is not unexpected, the company had already announced it wanted to cut costs and now we know where the savings will come from, said ZKB analyst Georg Marti, who has an 'underweight' rating on the stock.

The company wants to centralize its business more so the impact on sales will hopefully be limited. The job cuts are expected to focus mainly on back office and similar functions rather than on the company's relationship managers, Marti said.

Swiss Re shares are set to open more than 2 percent higher on the news according to pre-market data from Clariden Leu.

($1=1.144 Swiss Franc)

(Writing by Lisa Jucca; additional reporting by Martin de SA'Pinto; editing by Mike Nesbit and Simon Jessop)

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