Berkshire Hathaway Sees Rise in First-Quarter Net Earnings
April 30 2016 - 12:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Anupreeta Das
Berkshire Hathaway released preliminary first-quarter earnings
as the firm's annual shareholders meeting got under way in Omaha,
Neb., on Saturday.
The firm, run by investor Warren Buffett, reported net income of
$5.59 billion, up from $5.16 billion in the same period a year
earlier.
Insurance underwriting profits declined to $1.132 billion in the
quarter, compared with $1.355 billion in the prior-year quarter,
because of a rise in natural disasters.
Berkshire's massive railroad, utility and energy segment saw
profits fall as well -- to $1.225 billion, compared with $1.466
billion in the year prior.
First-quarter earnings at Berkshire's BNSF Railway were down
"significantly," Mr. Buffett said at the annual meeting, adding
that it is "almost certainly going to be down" for the remainder of
the year. Lower shipments of coal and material used in shale-gas
extraction had cut into the railroad's results last year, and it
has been expected to report lower earnings and revenue in 2016.
As a result, operating profit at Berkshire dropped in the
quarter. The rise in net income was due to investment and
derivative gains and losses, something that Mr. Buffett says are
best to ignore.
Write to Anupreeta Das at anupreeta.das@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 30, 2016 11:57 ET (15:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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