Lloyd's of London posted a fall in profits in the first half of 2015, down from 1.65 billion pounds ($2.55 billion) in the first half of 2014 to 1.19 billion pounds.
The fall in profit at the specialist market for insurance and reinsurance was against the backdrop of difficult trading conditions, that have seen low interest rates reduce investment returns and increase competition on insurance premiums around the world.
"We have got two things going on -- one is there is enormous competition in the insurance and reinsurance market. In the first half we went through a period of extremely difficult investment conditions which accounts for the majority of the drop in profits for the market," John Nelson, chairman of Lloyd's, told Xinhua on Thursday.