The insurance market Lloyd's of London has announced a loss for 2011, saying it was its worst year for catastrophe¹ claims.

伦敦劳埃德保险社宣布2011年亏损，因为灾难原因，去年成为其经营最差的一年。

It lost £516m in 2011, compared with a pre-tax profit of £2.2bn in 2010.

It incurred² net claims of £12.9bn in the year, including £4.6bn of catastrophe claims.

Catastrophes³ during the year included flooding in Australia and Thailand, the earthquake and tsunami⁴ in Japan and the earthquake in New Zealand.

"Make no mistake, 2011 was a difficult year for the insurance industry," said Lloyd's chief executive Richard Ward⁵.

"I am disappointed that, given the exceptional level of catastrophes in 2011, insurance rates have not responded more positively⁶."

Lloyd's of London is a market, in which syndicates meet brokers⁷ and agree to take on particular risks.

Its chairman said that the market was still in a strong financial position, but warned that 2012 would be another challenging year.

"Our strong capital position is unchanged and we were able to make a profit in the second half of the year despite the floods in Thailand and continuing low investment returns," John Nelson said.