British insurer Royal & Sun Alliance Group plc reported an 11 per cent rise in first-half profits yesterday and said its integration plans remained on target to deliver the cost savings forecast for last year's merger.

Trading profits for the group, formed last year in a £6 billion sterling (£6.8 billion) deal, rose to £501 million despite the impact of recent sterling strength which took £25 million off the headline figure.

The results marked the first year of Royal Sun's merged operation and the group said the integration process was still on course.

The company's top priority was to build shareholder value and it intended to deliver real dividend increases over time, said deputy chairman Mr Roger Taylor. Reflecting this, the half year dividend was raised 10 per cent to 7.15p per share.