LLOYD'S EXPECTATIONS FOR 2012 UNCHANGED

Lloyd's has reported an increase in the excess of central assets over solvency shortfall to £3.03bn ($4.91bn), from £2.98bn as of December 31 2011. Society net assets rose to £1.54bn from £1.49bn. Lloyd's said that during Q1 there had been no events that would bring any material change to expectations for the full year. Lloyd's said that, while the first three months of 2012 saw optimism return to the financial markets subsequent to the European Central Bank's Long Term Refinancing Operation last December, "developments in the first weeks of the second quarter have been less encouraging, as fears about the solvency of sovereigns in the euro zone re-emerge". In Q1 investment assets returned £49m, benefiting from a general rise in global equity values.