Lloyd’s - the world’s leading marketplace for insurance and reinsurance which was recently recognised among the top 40 global reinsurers – today posted its results for H1 2023, which was described by CEO John Neal as a “very strong” six months.
Among the headline figures revealed, Lloyd’s commanded gross written premium of £29.3 billion in H1 2023, up 21.9% from £24 billion in the same period last year. In an earnings release, Lloyd’s attributed this to growth from existing syndicates (6.5%), new syndicates (2.2%), foreign currency movements (4.1%) and risk-adjusted rate increases (9.1%). It also highlighted that major claims represented 3.6% of losses in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, Lloyd’s underwriting profit soared year-on-year to £2.5 billion, up from £1.2 billion in the prior year. The marketplace reported a very strong combined ratio of 85.2%, a significant improvement from last year’s still-healthy 91.4%. Lloyd’s noted that this demonstrates continued progress in underwriting performance.
For the half-year period, Lloyd’s delivered a profit before tax of £3.9 billion, compared to a loss of £1.8 billion in H1 2022, revealing a total capital of £40.8 billion, up slightly from last year’s figure of £40.2 billion. The market stated that its central solvency ratio of 438% and market-wide solvency ratio of 194% reveal its ‘capital discipline and resilience through a range of market conditions’.
Commenting on the results, Neal said: “We’re pleased to be reporting a very strong set of results for the year so far – with profitability in both our underwriting and investments; a leading combined ratio, strong premium growth and a bulletproof balance sheet that means we can support customers through a range of shocks and scenarios.
“Combined with the market’s progress in driving sustainable performance, digitalisation and showing leadership from climate transition to culture change – these results set us up to deliver on our positive financial outlook for 2023.”
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