Lloyd's of London, the specialist insurance market, said its profit halved in 2008 because of hefty hurricane losses and weaker investment returns.
Lloyd's reported a 2008 pretax profit of £1.9 billion, saying today turmoil in global financial markets slashed its investment returns by 52 per cent to £957 million.
Also, last year ranks as the insurance industry's second most costly on record after hurricanes Ike and Gustav contributed to total catastrophe-related losses of about $50 billion.
Lloyd's said its 2008 combined ratio -- claims expenses and operating costs expressed as a proportion of premium income, a key measure of underwriting profitability -- deteriorated to 91 per cent from 84 per cent in 2007 as a result of higher claims.
A combined ratio below the 100 percent break-even point denotes an underwiting profit.
"Amidst the unprecedented slump in the world economy, Lloyd's remains in good shape," chairman Peter Levene said in a statement.
Lloyd's said it had assets of £2.072 billion pounds at the end of 2008, compared with £1.951 billion pounds a year earlier.
Reuters