"It makes sense for SocGen to take action on costs," RBC Capital Markets analysts including Anke Reingen wrote in a note Wednesday, estimating that a 400 million-euro cost reduction would help improve SocGen's 2020 earnings by about 6 percent. The French bank will likely seek to preserve its traditional trading strengths in equity derivatives and structured products, with potential reductions coming in less profitable parts of its fixed-income activities, the people said. Decisions on the magnitude and scope of the cuts may come when the bank announces annual results on Feb. 7, the people said. SocGen's targets, presented in late 2017, are predicated on progressive dividend growth, improved profitability, revenue growth and 1.1 billion euros in annual cost savings by next year, including hundreds of branch closures and thousands of job cuts at the French retail networks. The new cost-cutting measures would come on top of existing efforts.