London - AFP
Lloyd's of London, the insurance market, said Wednesday that it returned to profit last year, brushing off massive claims for damage caused by Superstorm Sandy. Lloyd's said it posted a pre-tax profit of £2.77 billion ($4.18 billion, 3.28 billion euros) in 2012 after a loss of £516 million in 2011 -- which it added was the costliest year on record for natural disasters. "The Lloyd's market has posted a strong result, despite incurring £10 billion of total net claims in 2012, including Superstorm Sandy," Lloyd's chief executive Richard Ward said in an earnings statement. Claims for Sandy -- which ravaged the heavily populated US northeast coast in late October -- totalled $2.2 billion (1.7 billion euros) -- becoming one of the largest claims in Lloyd's 325 year history, it said. Lloyd's had in 2011 suffered its second-largest annual pre-tax loss -- at £516 million -- owing to record claims for catastrophes including earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and floods in Australia and Thailand.