Warren Buffett.
Gerald Miller | CNBC
Berkshire Hathaway‘s operating profits fell during the fourth quarter as inflationary pressures weighed on the conglomerate’s businesses.
Berkshire Hathaway’s operating earnings totaled $6.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, a release read Saturday. That’s down 7.9% from the year-earlier period when profits totaled $7.285 billion. Operating earnings refers to the total profits made from the businesses owned by the conglomerate.
Earnings from Berkshire’s railroad, utilities and energy businesses came in at $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, which is slightly down from the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the firm’s insurance-underwriting business fell to $244 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, down from $372 million the year-earlier period.
For the year, the conglomerate’s operating earnings totaled $30.793 billion. That’s up 12.2% from $27.455 billion in 2021.
Meanwhile, Berkshire used $2.855 billion to buy back shares in the fourth quarter. That’s lower than the year-earlier period when share repurchases totaled more than $6 billion but more than the third quarter’s repurchase total of around $1 billion. For the year, Berkshire bought back nearly $8 billion in common stock.
Despite this, Berkshire’s cash hoard grew to $128.651 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. That’s up from nearly $109 billion in the third quarter.
Buffett said in his annual shareholder letter that Berkshire will continue to hold a “boatload” of cash and U.S. Treasury bills along with its myriad of businesses. He specified that future CEOs in the company will have a “significant part” of their net worth in Berkshire shares.
BRK in 2023
“We will also avoid behavior that could result in any uncomfortable cash needs at inconvenient times, including financial panics and unprecedented insurance losses,” Buffett wrote. “And yes, our shareholders will continue to save and prosper by retaining earnings. At Berkshire, there…
Read the full article here
