The Lloyd’s of London insurance market disclosed a pre-tax profit drop of 28 percent due to lower investment returns and a competitive market.
Pre tax profit fell to £1.19 billion, with a return on capital falling to 10.7 percent from 16 percent last year.
Lloyd’s Chief Executive, Inga Beale, said:
“These results demonstrate Lloyd’s success and resilience despite challenging underwriting and investment conditions. This sizable profit is in large part due to the market’s expert underwriting and our deep commitment to rigorous oversight..
In a statement, the company said that the results were a solid achievement in the light of the challenging conditions faced by the industry. Lloyd’s cited several expensive claims as the reason for the slower performance, including the Pemex oil rig in Mexico, the Germanwings flight 9525 crash and aircraft bombings during conflict in Yemen.
However, Lloyd’s continues to be highly rated with an A rating from A.M.Best, A+ from Standard & Poor’s and AA- from Fitch. According to the company, this demonstrates “Lloyd’s excellent underwriting oversight, and continued investment in risk and exposure management practices.”