Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway posted a $35.5 billion first-quarter profit yesterday, reflecting gains from stocks such as Apple, while higher investment income and a rebound at car insurer Geico bolstered operating results.
Berkshire also sped up repurchases of its own stock, buying back $4.4bn, while paring its investments in other stocks such as Chevron, which is still a major holding.
Results were released ahead of Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, part of a weekend that draws tens of thousands of people to the city.
Buffett, 92, has run Berkshire since 1965, transforming it from a struggling textile company into a conglomerate with dozens of businesses including Geico, the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and manufacturing and retail units including See’s Candies and Dairy Queen ice cream.
The diversification has led many investors, not just Buffett fans, to view Berkshire as a stable long-term investment even amid recession fears and concerns about the banking industry.
Net income equalled $24,377 per Class A share and rose from $5.58bn, or $3,784 per share, a year earlier.
That in part reflected a 27 per cent jump in Apple’s stock price, leaving Berkshire with a $151bn stake in the iPhone maker.
An accounting rule requires Berkshire to report unrealised gains and losses with net results, and Buffett urges investors to ignore the resulting volatility.
Quarterly operating profit increased 13pc to $8.07bn, or about $5,561 per Class A share, from $7.16bn.
Those results benefited from Geico snapping a six-quarter string of underwriting losses, and a 68pc increase in how much Berkshire’s insurance units generate from investments.
Berkshire’s cash hoard grew $2bn in the quarter to $130.6bn, as the company sold $13.3bn of stocks and bought just $2.9bn.
Berkshire also owns a 23.6pc stake in another oil company, Occidental Petroleum.
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