Lloyd's has turned in another strong performance for the first six months of the year announcing a midyear, pre-tax profit of £1.35 billion. The market's underwriting profit increased by 20 percent since the same time last year.

The market's combined ratio has also improved. This is the syndicates' outgoings as a percentage of their income, so anything below 100 percent is a profit. Lloyd's combined ratio is 86 percent, which compares with 88 percent for Bermuda and over 90 percent for insurers and reinsurers in the US and Europe.

Lloyd's chairman, Lord Levene said: “These are an excellent set of results. The numbers clearly show the underlying strength of the market. Lloyd's, in the first half of 2006, outperformed its major international peer groups due to a combination of good market conditions and the strong underwriting discipline within the market.” And chief executive Richard Ward added that the attraction of the market to both underwriters and capital providers had continued in the first half of the year.

“Five new syndicates have joined the market in the last year,” he said. “Which together with the £2 billion of fresh capital during the same period demonstrates once again Lloyd's continuing appeal as a place to do business.” The market's central assets have also gone up from £1.26 million last year to £1.4 million.