Lloyd's of London profits halve as catastrophes hit

Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, has reported a 50% fall in profits for the first half of 2010 as a result of costs from the Chilean earthquake and Gulf oil spill.

Pre-tax profits came in at £628m compared with £1.32bn a year earlier.

Lord Levene, the Lloyd's chairman, described the period as the "costliest on record".

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