Lloyd’s has released its preliminary financial results for the 12 months ended December 31, 2020, and the full-year numbers show the insurance marketplace in the red.

From the £2.5 billion (around AU$4.51 billion) profit enjoyed in 2019, Lloyd’s tumbled to an aggregated pre-tax market loss worth £0.9 billion (around AU$1.62 billion). The amount includes net incurred coronavirus losses of £3.4 billion after reinsurance recoveries.

“Following an extremely challenging year marked by a global health crisis of a scale never seen before, Lloyd’s continued to support its customers with payouts expected to total £6.2 billion in COVID-19 claims,” noted Lloyd’s chief executive John Neal.

“The year was also marked by a high frequency of natural catastrophe claims and the UK’s formal exit from the EU, driving further losses and uncertainty.”

Other key figures from the 2020 financials were gross written premium of £35.5 billion, a combined ratio of 110.3%, and net investment income amounting to £2.3 billion. Excluding the losses from the pandemic, Lloyd’s said the market delivered an underwriting profit of £0.8 billion. 

Meanwhile, Neal went on to state: “Against [the] unprecedented backdrop we have made good progress across our performance, digitalisation, and culture transformation plans.

“Our disciplined underwriting approach and determination to become the world’s most advanced insurance marketplace have set us up for real success this year alongside the continued positive rate momentum that will see the market supporting growth for the first time in four years.”