Historic insurance market Lloyd’s of London on Thursday said it had rebounded into a first-half profit as the pandemic eased.

Lloyd’s posted pre-tax profit of £1.4 billion (€1.6bn) in the first six months of the year. The group had suffered a loss of £400 million for the same period last year when the pandemic erupted, it said in a results statement.

Lloyd’s still paid out almost £10 billion in claims during the first half of this year “as the impacts of the pandemic continue to be felt across multiple industries,” said chief executive John Neal.

Lloyd’s paid out almost £10bn in claims during the first half of this year- Lloyd’s chief executive John Neal

The group had logged an annual pre-tax loss of about £900 million last year, with net COVID losses of £3.4 billion.