The Lloyd's of London insurance market has said profits soared by 127 per cent during 2003 to £1.89 billion.
The figure, which is only the second time the market has reported results on an annual basis, builds on progress made in 2002 when it reported its first profit since 1996.
Lloyd's said it had benefited from favourable conditions during the year, seeing strong increases in premium rates but a low level of payouts on catastrophes.
The result represents a big improvement since 2001, when Lloyd's recorded a loss of £3.11 billion following the September 11th terrorist attacks and other disasters, including the Petrobras oil rig accident and the attacks on an airport in Sri Lanka.
On its traditional three-year accounting basis, Lloyd's said the initial projection for profits for 2003 was £1.78 billion - a new record.
Lloyd's switched to reporting its results on an annual basis last year as part of a raft of reforms to modernise the market and make it more transparent and easier to compare with other major insurance centres such as Bermuda.
Other changes included introducing a new franchise structure to the market and phasing out the number of Names who backed the market with an unlimited liability.