Lloyd’s of London, the insurance market, said Wednesday that it returned to profit last year, brushing off massive claims for damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.
Lloyd’s said it posted a pre-tax profit of £2.77 billion ($4.18 billion, 3.28 billion euros) in 2012 after a loss of £516 million in 2011 — which it added was the costliest year on record for natural disasters.
“The Lloyd’s market has posted a strong result, despite incurring £10 billion of total net claims in 2012, including Superstorm Sandy,” Lloyd’s chief executive Richard Ward said in an earnings statement.
Claims for Sandy — which ravaged the heavily populated US northeast coast in late October — totalled $2.2 billion (1.7 billion euros) — becoming one of the largest claims in Lloyd’s 325 year history, it said.
Lloyd’s had in 2011 suffered its second-largest annual pre-tax loss — at £516 million — owing to record claims for catastrophes including earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and floods in Australia and Thailand.
Lloyd's of London returns to profit despite Sandy
