Lloyd’s of London has reported a whopping £2.5bn ($2.9bn) in pre-tax profits in 2019 thanks mostly to a massive windfall investment return.

But dig behind the headlines and Lloyd’s figures show its syndicates are still struggling to earn an underwriting profit, with the marine market continuing to be one of its worst performers.

'Encouraging' result

Lloyd’s chief executive John Neal described the overall 2019 profit as “encouraging progress” supported by “improving underwriting discipline”.