Buffett shares good news on earnings for Berkshire Hathaway
OMAHA, Neb. — Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday at the company’s annual meeting in a packed Omaha arena that it made $35.5 billion, or $24,377 per Class A share, in the first quarter. That’s more than 6 times last year’s $5.58 billion, or $3,784 per share.
But billionaire CEO Warren Buffett has long cautioned that those bottom line figures can be misleading for Berkshire because the wide swings in the value of its investments — most of which it rarely sells — distort the profits. In this quarter, Berkshire had only a $1.7 billion realized gain on stock sales while recording a $27.4 billion paper investment gain. Part of this year’s investment gains included a $2.4 billion boost related to Berkshire’s planned acquisition of the majority of the Pilot Travel Centers truck stop company’s shares in January.
Buffett said Berkshire’s operating earnings that exclude investments are a better measure of the company’s performance. By that measure, Berkshire’s operating earnings grew nearly 13% to $8.065 billion, up from $7.16 billion a year ago.
The three analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Berkshire to report operating earnings of $5,370.91 per Class A share.
Buffett told shareholders that he expects Berkshire’s operating profits to grow this year even though the economy is slowing down. He said Berkshire will profit from rising interest rates on its holdings, and the insurance market looks good this year.
At the end of this year’s first quarter, Berkshire held $130.6 billion in cash, up from about $128.59 billion at the end of last year.
Berkshire’s insurance unit, which includes Geico and a number of large reinsurers, recorded a $911 million operating profit, up from $167 million last year, driven by a rebound in Geico’s results.
Fatal Mississippi shooting:
One person is dead and at least six other people were shot during a Cinco de Mayo party at a Mississippi restaurant late Friday night, police said.
Ocean Springs Police Capt. Ryan LeMaire, in a news release, confirmed that seven people were shot at the Scratch Kitchen on Government Street. The surviving victims were transported to area hospitals for treatment, LeMaire said. The extent of their injuries was not immediately released.
He identified the man killed as Chase Harmon, 19, of Pascagoula. No arrests had been made as of Saturday morning, but LeMaire said the investigation is ongoing.
The restaurant’s owner told the Sun Herald there were about 200 people at the eatery when the shooter ran past employees who were doing security checks at the entrance to the patio.
Sudan talks: Sudan’s warring sides began talks Saturday that aim to firm up a shaky cease-fire after three weeks of fierce fighting that has killed hundreds and pushed the African country to the brink of collapse, the United States and Saudi Arabia said.
The negotiations, the first between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, since the fighting broke out April 15, were underway
in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, according to a joint Saudi-American statement.
The talks are part of a diplomatic initiative proposed by the kingdom and the U.S. that aims to stop the fighting, which has turned Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas into battlefields and pushed hundreds of thousands from their homes.
At least 550 people have been killed, including civilians, and more than 4,900
have been wounded as of Monday, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.
The U.N. refugee agency estimated that the number of Sudanese fleeing to neighboring countries would reach 860,000.
Palestinians killed in raid: Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians during a military raid in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. A local armed group said the pair were militants.
The ministry and Tulkarem’s branch of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group with connections to President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, identified the pair as Samer El Shafei and Hamza Kharyoush, both age 22.
The Israeli military said the two gunmen were suspected of carrying out a shooting at a nearby Israeli settlement late last month in which an Israeli civilian was injured.