Royal and Sun Alliance has posted an operating result of £698m for 2005. This represents an increase of 171% on the previous year's result of £258m.
The group's overall pre-tax profit increased from £38m to £856m, and its profit after tax was £605m, compared with an £80m loss in 2004. R&SA's premium income increased by 6%, to £5.4bn.
R&SA's chief executive, Andy Haste, said: “The Core Group (non-US operations) has performed strongly and we have made further progress in derisking the US. We are delivering against our strategic objectives and I am confident that with our focus on operational excellence, execution and the strength of our operations we will continue to deliver sustainable profitable performance.”
Haste expects the Core Group to achieve a combined operating ratio of 95% in 2006. R&SA's COR improved by 2% to 94.1% in 2005.
In the US, the company's focus is on reducing risk and driving down claims and expenses.
The group has delivered a final dividend of 3.05p per share, making a total dividend of 4.74p for the year.
