A third pension deficit in four years largely wiped out an underwriting profit and a reasonable ­investment return for the North of the England Protecting & Indemnity (P&I) Association.

It was left with a meagre $2.4m surplus after pension liabilities took a $30.2m bite out of the result for the year to 20 February.

There was an $11m underwriting profit and a $21m investment gain, while the Newcastle-based club also returned 5% of premium amounting to $14m for the 2016 policy year — a better-than-average performance in this respect compared with other International Group clubs.