By Josh Beckerman
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted a 20% increase
in operating profit for the first quarter, boosted by higher
revenue at its core insurance and railroad divisions.
The results come as investors prepare to celebrate 50 years of
Berkshire under Mr. Buffett's reign at Saturday's annual meeting in
Omaha, Neb.
Mr. Buffett has turned Berkshire into a giant conglomerate that
owns about 80 businesses, ranging from Lubrizol to Clayton Homes to
Dairy Queen. At Berkshire's core is its insurance operation, which
includes Geico Corp. and reinsurer General Re, along with a massive
portfolio of securities.
In March the company helped engineer the planned merger of Kraft
Foods Group Inc. and H.J. Heinz Co. Berkshire previously teamed up
with private-equity firm 3G Capital Partners LP to buy Heinz for
about $23 billion in 2013.
In all, Berkshire reported a first-quarter profit of $5.16
billion, or $3,143 a Class A share, compared with $4.71 billion, or
$2,862 a share, a year earlier. Operating profit, which excludes
some investment results, rose to $4.24 billion, or $2,583 per Class
A share, from $3.53 billion, or $2,149 a share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting operating
earnings of $2,373 a Class A share.
Revenue rose to $48.64 billion from $45.45 billion.
Berkshire's insurance operations reported a $480 million
underwriting profit, compared with $461 million in the prior
year.
At the firm's closely watched railroad, utilities and energy
unit, revenue rose to $9.89 billion from $9.75 billion.
Per-share book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities that
is Mr. Buffett's preferred yardstick for measuring net worth, has
risen 0.5% since the end of 2014, standing at $146,963 a Class A
share as of March 31.
Class A shares closed Friday at $215,800 and have dropped 4.5%
so far this year.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
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