Marine insurers at Lloyd’s of London have seen an improvement in premium income and underwriting profits in the first half of this year.
Lloyd’s reported a gross written premium of £29.3bn ($36.5bn) in the six-month period to the end of June, compared to $24bn in the same period last year.
Its overall profit came in at a whopping £3.9bn, compared with a £1.8bn loss in 2022.
Lloyd’s made a technical underwriting profit of £2.5bn and its results were further helped by a £1.8bn investment return.
There was a similar improvement by marine underwriters at Lloyd’s of London.
The Marine, Aviation and Transport sector reported a half-year gross written premium of £2.2bn compared to £1.8bn in the same period last year.
It earned an underwriting profit of £262m, compared to £26m in 2022.
Claims in the period were roughly the same, £743m in 2023 compared to £770m in 2022, suggesting that the profits were driven by higher premium levels.
Marine insurance rates have been hardening over the past two years and this year’s figures may well mark the peak of the hard market.
Brokers suggest that the increase in rates has been slowing down recently. There is an expectation that the bull run on rates is now coming to an end, with rates likely to stagnate in the latter half of the year.
