Lloyd's profits from 'quiet year'

Insurance market Lloyd's of London has reported a return to profitability after there were no major natural disasters in the first six months of 2012.

It made a pre-tax profit of £1.53bn in the half year to 30 June.

This compares with a loss of £697m a year earlier, when it was hit by claims arising from the Japanese tsunami of March 2011.

Lloyd's chief executive Richard Ward told BBC News that 2012 had seen claims decrease and was a relatively "quiet year".