UK general insurer Royal & SunAlliance is to cut 700 jobs, with 500 of these in the UK, as part of its cost-saving initiative to reduce expenses by a further GBP70 million, according to reports.

According to The Telegraph, the 700 jobs are in addition to the 1,550 jobs that the insurer said it would lose in June 2006 to reduce costs of GPB130 million by June 2008.

The news comes as the insurance provider revealed that it has achieved its annualized expense savings target of GBP130 million ahead of schedule, and that the additional 700 redundancies are expected to save the company a further GBP70 million, bringing the total target to GBP200 million by mid 2008.

However, Royal & SunAlliance’s H1 2007 results also revealed that it had been hard hit by the recent floods, with losses amounting to GBP120 million. Despite this, the insurer managed to generate a net profit of GBP237 million for the six-month period.