Lloyd’s insurer Amlin has posted a pre-tax loss of £192.3 million ($299 million) for the first half of 2011, after a recent warning that its profits would be hit by the deterioration in Suncorp’s gross losses from February’s Christchurch earthquake.

Catastrophe claims of £314.3 million ($489 million) led to a combined ratio of 121%, and investment income was also down.

Gross written premiums for the half rose 1.9% to £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion), with net earned premiums up 6.6% to £919.3 million ($1.4 billion).

Amlin CEO Charles Philipps says the company should recoup its first-half underwriting losses in the second half of the year with “the core underwriting businesses in London and Bermuda well placed to take advantage of an improving rating environment, particularly in catastrophe lines”.

Analysts say the company could recoup underwriting losses over the second half but estimate Amlin will still post a full-year loss.