Lloyd's of London returns to profit despite Sandy

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.