Lloyd’s posts loss for 2011 in record catastrophe year

Lloyd’s of London recorded an annual loss of £516 million ($818 million) last year due to a huge spike in natural disaster losses. The loss compares to a profit of £2.2 billion ($3.5 billion) in 2010.

The U.K.-based insurance market reported a total net claims payout of £12.9 billion ($20.5 billion), of which roughly one-third ($7.3 billion) accounted for catastrophe-related claims. 2011 was the largest catastrophe claims year on record for Lloyd’s. Lloyd’s combined ratio increased to 106.8% from the previous year’s 93.3%

Flooding in Thailand cost the insurer $2.2 billion, while Australian water-related losses resulted in $650 million in claims.

Earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand accounted for insured losses of $1.95 billion and $1.6 billion respectively.

“Make no mistake, 2011 was a difficult year for the insurance industry,” chief executive Richard Ward said in a statement. “Given the scale of the claims, a loss is unsurprising.” Even with the losses, Lloyd’s capital position remained strong, with net resources unchanged at £19.1 billion ($30.2 billion) and total resources at £58.8 billion ($93.2 billion).