LONDON (Reuters) - Japanese firms with ties to Britain say they are not planning an imminent exit from the country as the British government seeks to agree on conditions for its withdrawal from the European Union, a Reuters poll showed.

Many companies have said they will adopt a "wait and see" approach to Britain's exit from the bloc.

The Japanese government has publicly expressed concerns about the impact of the EU exit on the UK, the second largest destination for Japanese investment after the United States.

Tokyo warned that Japanese firms would have to leave Britain if trade barriers caused by the British withdrawal caused business to become unprofitable.

Britain's decision to leave the EU raises concerns in London that Japanese firms may move their operations elsewhere if duty-free trade with the rest of the bloc stops.

But 89% of companies with business ties with Britain say they will not change their operations, while 3% of companies are actually considering expanding their activities in the country.

The survey, which took place from April 3 to 15, shows that about 8% of companies plan to cut business operations in Britain, but none of the companies surveyed are planning to leave the country. However, in written comments, many companies said they would monitor the developments of the British withdrawal "at the moment," indicating that they may leave the country if the withdrawal proves to be detrimental to its activity.

The Reuters survey of companies included 478 large and medium-sized companies whose managers were involved in answering questions on the condition that their names were not disclosed. Some 240 companies responded to questions about the British withdrawal. Of those companies, 61 said they had working relationships with the UK and responded to more detailed questions about the British withdrawal.

By the end of 2016, Japan's commercial investment in Britain was 13.4 trillion yen (92 billion pounds sterling), accounting for 9 percent of Japan's total foreign direct investment.

8%

Of Japanese companies

Plan to cut

Commercial Operations

In Britain.