Throwback Thursday: Lloyd’s record profit
Insurance Post’s Throwback Thursday steps back in time to September 1981 to remind you what was going on this week in insurance history when Lloyd’s posted “the highest yet” profit.
3 September 1981: Lloyd’s posts record profit
Lloyd’s declared a profit of £174m for 1978, which the London Market’s then chairperson said was the “highest yet”.
The profit was 8.06% of the £2.163bn net premiums achieved during the year.
The average was a “creditable” 7.2% for the last five years, which the chair said showed the 1970s had been generally good for Lloyd’s compared with the 1960s, when a loss ratio of 8% was recorded but not as good as the 1950s when 11% on the credit side was achieved.
Lloyd’s profit for the first half of 2025 alone was £4.2bn before tax.
The market saw growth in gross written premium (GWP) and a significant increase in investment return.
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