Warren Buffett– owned Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) reported a sharp decline in fourth-quarter net income, hampered by investment losses.
what happened: Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Berkshire’s fourth-quarter net income was $18.16 billion, down about 54% from $39.65 billion a year earlier.
The decline in net income in the fourth quarter reflects a sharp decline in investment and derivatives income, which fell nearly two-thirds from $39.65 billion in 2021 to $11.46 billion in 2022 ( about 65%) decreased. $6.71 billion, down 7.9%.
Net earnings per Class A share decreased from $26,690 to $12,412.
Operating income reflected lower revenues from rail operations and losses from foreign currency translation, partially offset by higher insurance investment income.
For the full year, Berkshire returned to an operating loss of $22.82 billion from gains of $89.8 billion on investment and derivative losses of $53.61 billion. However, operating income increased from her $27.46 billion to his $30.79 billion.
Berkshire repurchased $2.6 billion of its stock in the fourth quarter, bringing the total to $7.8 billion for the year.
See also: Is Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) a good stock to buy?
Buffett comments: In his annual letter to shareholders, Buffett thanked Berkshire for their trust. He said Berkshire’s shareholders were mostly “save once, always save” types who lived affluent lives and ultimately contributed to charitable organizations, thereby helping to improve people’s lives. I pointed out that
he with him Charlie Munger It operates with the objective of investing in businesses with both good long-term economic profile and reliable management.
Oracle of Omaha said Berkshire had a strong year in 2022, setting a record operating income of $30.8 billion, excluding capital gains or losses from equity holdings.he advertised the acquisition of a property and casualty insurance company Allegany Inc.,operation Joe Brandon Second most positive development for Berkshire in 2022.
Looking ahead, Buffett said Berkshire will always have “large amounts of cash and U.S. Treasury bills” along with its various businesses.
“We also avoid actions that could result in uncomfortable cash needs at inconvenient times, such as financial panics or unprecedented insurance losses,” he said. He also said that Berkshire’s CEO will always be the Chief Risk Officer and that all future CEOs will hold the majority of their net worth in Berkshire stock purchased with their own money.
Berkshire’s Class A shares closed Friday’s session up 0.51% at $461,705, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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