May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group Plc, Britain's second-largest non-life insurer, said profit was unchanged in the first quarter as the company pulled back from operations in the U.S.

Net income was 122 million pounds ($226.36 million) or 3.8 pence a share, compared with 122 million pounds, or 3.6 pence a share, in the year-earlier period, the London-based company said today in a Business Wire statement. Net income in the first quarter last year was helped by the sale of a Japanese unit.

``It has been a strong start to the year,'' said Chief Executive Officer Andy Haste in the statement. The company's main units posted ``good performance,'' while ``continued progress'' has been made in the U.S., he added.

Haste is focusing the business on the U.K., Canada and Scandinavia after returning the insurer to profit last year. He is selling assets to reduce liabilities in the U.S. and limiting claims from hurricanes, asbestos illness and workers' compensation.

The company's operating result, which includes a forecast for investment returns, rose 29 percent to 207 million pounds in the quarter from 160 million pounds in the year-earlier period. That beat the 191 million-pound median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Royal & Sun's combined ratio, or claims and expenses as a percentage of premiums, slipped to 91.6 percent in the first quarter, from 91.8 percent, indicating improved underwriting profitability.

The insurer last July sold its non-standard auto unit to Sentry Insurance Group, its last U.S. operation that was still accepting new customers, for about $200 million. It sold assets and cut its U.S. workforce to about 860 people from 6,000 in 2003, Haste said in March. The company also forecast in March that claims and expenses won't exceed 95 pence for every pound of premiums this year.

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