Lloyd’s posts 2024 combined ratio of 86.9%, GWP tops 55.5 billion pounds

By Ryan Hewlett

March 10 - (The Insurer) - Lloyd’s announced on Monday that its headline underwriting result moderately deteriorated in 2024 with the market reporting a combined ratio of 86.9% for the full year, despite further improvement in its underlying performance.

The combined ratio was up 2.9 percentage points from 2023’s 84.0% – the market’s strongest underwriting result since 2006.

Lloyd’s said the year-on-year deterioration was driven by major claims in the second half of the year. Excluding large losses, the underlying combined ratio was 79.1%, a 1.4 point improvement on 2023’s 80.5%.

Underwriting profit of 5.3 billion pounds ($6.9 billion) was down 10.2% from the 5.9 billion pounds reported in 2023.

The market’s profit before tax fell to 9.6 billion pounds, a drop of 10.3% compared with the 10.7 billion pounds reported in the prior year.

Lloyd’s reported gross written premium of 55.5 billion pounds for 2024, an increase of 6.5%. This reflected 8.5% growth, primarily in the property and reinsurance segments, 0.3% price change and a negative 2.3% impact from foreign exchange movements.

The attritional loss ratio improved by 1.2 points to 47.1%, reflecting continued underwriting discipline, while the expense ratio remained flat at 34.4%.

Lloyd’s also reported an investment return of 4.9 billion pounds, down 7.5% on 2023, with the portfolio benefiting from high interest rates, notwithstanding some market volatility in the fourth quarter.

Whilst not included in the 2024 result, Lloyd’s has estimated the net loss to the market from the California wildfires at approximately $2.3 billion.

Lloyd’s CFO Burkhard Keese said: “2024 saw us maintain our focus on strong profitability and disciplined growth. Our market has delivered another excellent underwriting year for our investors, while providing best in class solutions for our customers to protect their business flows and balance sheets.

“We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the California fires earlier this year. Although we are still assessing the full impact, we do not expect this to be a capital event.”

Lloyd’s is scheduled to publish its full results on 20 March, along with guidance for 2025.