LONDON-Lloyd's of London's preliminary 1994 profit of 1.01 billion pounds ($1.73 billion) is in line with forecasted predictions.

The results are not as good as Lloyd's 1993 global profit of 1.08 billion pounds ($1.68 billion), but they reflect a good year when rates were high and there were few catastrophic losses, underwriting agents note.

Lloyd's preliminary results, announced last week, are "pure" results before tax and after members' personal expenses, such as members' agents fees. The results are based on an initial review of syndicate returns representing 94% of the market's 1994 capacity of 10.9 billion pounds

($16.13 billion) and projections for the remaining syndicates. There were 179 syndicates underwriting in 1994, which closed at year-end 1996 under Lloyd's three-year accounting system.

Lloyd's predicted last year that it would report a profit equal to 9.3% of the market's 1994 capacity, or 1.01 billion pounds

(BI, March 31).

The market's final tally will be announced when Lloyd's global results are published in early June.

However, syndicate analysts Syndicate Underwriting Research Ltd. said it expects Lloyd's final 1994 profits will exceed the preliminary results. SURL estimates the market's global profit is closer to 1.17 billion pounds

($2 billion)-slightly larger than 1993-before members' agency fees. Lloyd's preliminary results also exclude adjustments on syndicate reserves that could be released to members, SURL states.

Neither Lloyd's nor SURL's forecasts include syndicates that have a 1993 or prior year open, though most of these open years have been closed into Equitas Ltd.

SURL predicts Lloyd's 1995 results will be about 9.4% of its capacity of 10.17 billion pounds ($15.91 billion), or about 957 million pounds ($1.5 billion).

Lloyd's best-performing syndicate in 1994 was nuclear syndicate 1176, managed by Cox Newton & Harman Ltd. The syndicate produced a 44% return on capacity of 29.4 million pounds ($43.5 million), or 12.9 million ($22.1 million).

Cox Insurance Holdings P.L.C., the parent of Cox Newton, managed six syndicates in 1994 with total capacity of 388.9 million pounds

($575.4 million). Cox states that its syndicates produced total preliminary profits of 76 million pounds ($130.2 million).

Other top performing syndicates include two managed by Bankside Syndicates Ltd. Syndicate 45, one of the most popular syndicates in the market because of its consistent results, produced a profit of 31.4% on its capacity of 25.6 million pounds ($37.9 million). And syndicate 561 produced a profit on 34.8% of its capacity of 45.3 million pounds

($67 million).

Results do not always tell the whole story, however. Syndicate 952, managed by Archer Managing Agents Ltd., also was one of the best performing syndicates in 1994, producing a 33.8% return on a capacity of just 1.2 million pounds ($1.8 million). However, the excess-of-loss syndicate produced large losses in the previous two years and has since shut down.

The worst-performing syndicate was syndicate 657, also managed by Archer, which produced a 41.4% loss on its capacity of 42.9 million pounds

($63.5 million). This syndicate and syndicate 240, also managed by Archer with a small loss in 1994, have been left open.

Separately, Equitas Ltd. today will unveil details of its balance sheet as of Sept. 4, 1996, the day it began to reinsure Lloyd's syndicates' liabilities up to 1992. The figures should reveal how much Equitas received from Lloyd's, the extent of claims paid off by syndicates last year, the reinsurer's outstanding liabilities, and how much it received in reinsurance premiums.

The last figure given by Lloyd's, at the end of 1995, indicated that reinsurance premiums were forecast to be about 14.7 billion pounds

($22.83 billion), though some claims were paid after that date.