RSA Insurance Group P.L.C. is on course to meet or beat analysts' forecasts for profits this year, the firm's chief executive said on Thursday, showing its resilience after an abandoned takeover bid for the company in 2015.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. ditched a GBP 5.6 billion (USD 8.18 billion) takeover bid in Sept 2015 for the general insurer, which has since stepped up cost-cutting and is focusing on its core U.K. and Ireland, Canadian and Scandinavian businesses.

"We are at least on track for the analysts' consensus ... or maybe even better than that," Chief Executive Stephen Hester told a media call, adding that the firm's first-quarter trading results were strong and ahead of expectations.

The company did not disclose its operating profits for the first quarter. Read the full story

RSA Insurance may beat 2016 analyst profit forecasts