Lloyd’s losses mount

Lloyd’s has reported a loss of £176mn (US$282mn) for the 1997 year of account, with worse expected for 1998. The announcement did little to inspire confidence in the forecasting skills of Lloyd’s syndicates. It was only last year, after all, that the market was predicting a modest £70mn profit for 1997. Lloyd’s has also revised upward to £725mn (from an estimate of £63mn just 12 months ago) its forecast for 1998 losses. Ratings agency AM Best recently predicted 1999 losses would top the £l bn mark.