Lloyd’s of London profits rise to £2.3bn
Lloyd’s of London has reported pre-tax profits of £2.3bn for the first six months of 2019.
The historic insurance market’s profits before tax climbed from £600m in the previous year, with boss John Neal citing “increased discipline” for the rise.
Neal said: “It is encouraging that the Lloyd’s market is showing increased discipline in 2019 as evidenced by a reduction in gross written premiums and an improvement in the attritional loss ratio for the current underwriting year.
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He added: “We are pleased to report a profit during the first six months of 2019.However, we recognise the importance of continued focus on performance management to maintain this momentum throughout the rest of 2019 and beyond.”
Lloyd’s also confirmed today that David Sansom is taking over as chief risk officer (CRO), subject to regulatory approval.
Formerly director of financial services risk at EY, David became Lloyd’s interim CRO in October 2018.
Neal has also vowed to modernise cultural practices in recent months to address allegations of sexual harassment that were reported by Bloomberg last year.
In April the institution set out a new code of conduct that included a ban on its staff drinking between 9am and 5pm.
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Neal added today: “Lloyd’s has also not hesitated to put in place a robust set of actions to tackle unacceptable behaviour around the market and ensure that we set the tone for a culture that encourages the brightest minds to remain in and join our industry. The centrepiece of these actions is the Lloyd’s market-wide culture survey which has built the most comprehensive picture ever commissioned of the culture across the insurance industry. We will be announcing the results of that survey and the actions that we will be taking at the Dive In Festival on 24 September.”