Insurance group Royal & Sun Alliance today said it had started the year strongly despite an increase in weather-related claims.

The company achieved first-quarter operating profits of £160 million after recording £163 million during a strong performance a year earlier.

R&SA said it had been helped by generally benign weather conditions worldwide, although there was higher than average activity in the UK, Scandinavia, Germany and Ireland.

In the UK, weather-related claims were £30 million higher than a year earlier after storms at the end of January and a cold snap at New Year.

Chief executive Bob Mendelsohn said: "We are confident that we can build on this solid start and that the prospects for the rest of the year remain positive."

The company said its UK commercial business had enjoyed an "excellent quarter" while the new More Th>n brand had performed well.

It added that it was on course to raise £800 million by the end of the year from a disposal programme which has already seen R&SA announce the sale of its asset management business for £240 million.

However, it declined to comment on which operations were likely to be sold under the scheme designed to enable the company to plough funds back into underwriting more business.