Lloyd’s, the world’s oldest insurance and reinsurance marketplace, has reported a 24%, or £600 million year-on-year rise in underwriting profit to £3.1 billion for the first half of 2024, as the market produced its best interim combined ratio since 2007 of 83.7%.

In 2023, Lloyd’s achieved its best underwriting result in recent history, and the strong performance has continued into 2024 with the market today reporting a strong set of H1 results.

Year-on-year, the combined ratio strengthened by 1.5 percentage points to the aforementioned 83.7%, while the underlying combined ratio, which excludes major claims, improved to 80.6% from 81.6% in H1 2023.

Lloyd’s says that it continued to support sustainable profitable growth during the period, reporting a 6.5% year-on-year rise in gross written premium to £30.6 billion, excluding foreign exchange movements of -2.1%, driven by 5% volume growth and price increase of 1.5%.

Importantly, the marketplace’s efforts to both improve performance and lower the cost of doing business at Lloyd’s has led to a further 1.7% reduction in the attritional loss ratio to 49.2%, compared with 50.9% in H1 2023, and also a lower expense ratio of 34.5% compared with 35.4% a year earlier.

Overall, Lloyd’s has today reported profit before tax of £4.9 billion for the first half of 2024, an increase of 26% on the £3.9 billion reported for H1 2023.

The market also maintained a strong balance sheet, announcing a central solvency ratio of 520%, up from H1 2023’s 503%, and a market-wide solvency ratio of 206%, down slightly on full-year 2023’s 207%.

In August, AM Best upgraded the Lloyd’s financial strength rating (FSR) to A+ (superior) from A (excellent), reflecting its sustainable profitability and resilient capital position.

Lloyd’s CEO, John Neal, commented on the results: “The first half of 2024 has presented a superb set of results for the Lloyd’s market which represents a combination of disciplined underwriting, smart organic growth and real strength in the Lloyd’s balance sheet. This is good news for both investors in the Lloyd’s insurance marketplace and our customers as we continue to support them in an increasingly risky world.”

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