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.

Chief Executive Officer Andy 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, beating the 191 million-pound median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

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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