Lloyd’s has released a trading update for its full-year 2024 (FY24) financial performance ahead of its full results announcement on March 20.
The update provides key figures on premium growth, underwriting performance, investment returns, and expected losses from major events.
Burkhard Keese (pictured above), Lloyd’s CFO, said the market maintained a focus on profitability and disciplined growth.
Keese also acknowledged the impact of the California wildfires, offering sympathies to those affected. While the full impact is still being assessed, he said the event is not expected to pose a capital risk to the market.
Gross written premium increased by 6.5% to £55.5 billion, up from £52.1 billion in 2023. This reflects an 8.5% growth rate, primarily in the property and reinsurance segments, which performed strongly in underwriting. The increase includes a 0.3% price change and a (2.3)% impact from foreign exchange movements.
The market’s combined ratio stood at 86.9%, up by 2.9 percentage points from 84% in 2023. Lloyd’s attributed this increase to major claims in the second half of the year. Excluding large losses, the underlying combined ratio was 79.1%, compared to 80.5% in the previous year.
The attritional loss ratio improved to 47.1%, reflecting continued underwriting discipline, while the expense ratio remained unchanged at 34.4%.
Lloyd’s reported an investment return of £4.9 billion, down from £5.3 billion in 2023. The portfolio benefited from another year of high interest rates, despite some market volatility in the fourth quarter. Underwriting profit was £5.3 billion, compared to £5.9 billion in 2023, while profit before tax totaled £9.6 billion, down from £10.7 billion the prior year.
Although not included in the FY24 results, Lloyd’s estimates a net loss of approximately $2.3 billion to the market from the California wildfires based on currently available information.
It is worth noting that in the first half of the year, the marketplace reported a profit before tax of £4.9 billion for the first half of 2024, an increase from £3.9 billion during the same period in 2023. Lloyd’s also saw an underwriting profit of £3.1 billion for the period, up from £2.5 billion in the first half of 2023.
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