The Lloyd’s Register Foundation has become the first registered charity in England and Wales to have an income over £1bn.

The income of the foundation, which funds science, education and research, is largely the result of accounting rules.

It is the sole owner of Lloyd’s Register, a safety assessment organisation which dates back to 1760, when it existed to facilitate agreements between insurers and ship owners. As a result, the company’s whole income of £1.03bn is consolidated onto the charity balance sheet.

The charity received £4m of profit under gift aid from the company, and another £8m from investment income. It gave out £17.2m in grants and spent £18.9m altogether, but still saw a £4.7m rise in the value of its balance sheet due to capital growth in the value of its investments.

The charity now funds 71 projects, an increase from 57 in the previous year.

The charity said it expected to see further growth in the next year, and that the trading company had turned a profit of £74m.

“The year has been one of considerable change and development for the Foundation,” wrote Thomas Thune Anderson, chairman of the charity, in his introduction to the annual report.

“Having invested time and energy in putting in place a proper governance framework, including agreement on a long-term strategy, we have started to see the benefits of this during the year.”