Recession Weighs on Berkshire Results

伯克希尔-哈撒威公司(Berkshire Hathaway Inc.)董事长巴菲特(Warren Buffett)上周六表示，公司一季度营业利润较去年同期小幅下降，因为公司很多业务都受到经济衰退的冲击。巴菲特在公司年度股东大会上说，一季度实现营业利润17亿美元，较去年同期的19亿美元有所下降。他没有谈到净利润。营业利润不包括投资和衍生品损益。Associated Press巴菲特手拿雪糕步入会场伯克希尔-哈撒威公司将于下周公布完整的季度收益报告。公司每股帐面值一季度降6%，原因主要是公司投资的价值下滑。伯克希尔-哈撒威截至第一季度末有227亿美元的现金和现金等价物。巴菲特说，一季度结束后的次日，公司为2008年在陶氏化学公司(Dow Chemical Co.)的投资进行了30亿美元的现金支付，这使公司的现金减少到不足200亿美元。伯克希尔-哈撒威拥有67家非保险类公司，其中很多从事经济敏感型行业，比如零售业制造业和房地产。上周六的股东大会时间很长，会上巴菲特谈到公司收益结果，他和长期合作伙伴查理•芒格(Charlie Munger)还回答了股东的提问。巴菲特一开始就回答了令人非常期待的一个问题：他对穆迪投资服务(Moody's Investors Service)有何看法？这家公司曾对数十亿美元的抵押贷款证券给出了AAA评级，而这些证券的价值随后出现了缩水，伯克希尔-哈撒威在该公司有很大的持股。巴菲特的回答很简单，这也是他一贯的风格。他说，所有的人都犯了同样的错误，认为房价会永无止境地上涨。巴菲特说，基本上，四五年前，几乎每个美国人脑袋里都是这么想的，无论是正式的还是怎样，他们都认为房价不可能大幅下跌。他随后又说，产生这种想法既是因为愚蠢，也是从众心理使然。巴菲特上周六说，除保险业务和受监管的公用事业领域业务，伯克希尔-哈撒威的其他业务一季度大都遭受了打击。他说，我们幸好从事了保险和公用事业。巴菲特说，公司保险业务一季度的承保利润较去年同期略有上升。他还说，一季度公用事业收益较去年同期有所下滑。巴菲特说，原因主要是伯克希尔-哈撒威对公司持有的Constellation Energy股票实行了按市值计价，以及为与10年前收购MidAmerican有关的自愿离职补偿进行了最后一笔付款。他说，其他所有业务一季度基本上都出现了下滑，我们会继续在保险和公用事业上有出色的业绩，不过在其他业务上不会很好。他还警告说，伯克希尔-哈撒威承销的一种信贷衍生品近几个月价值进一步缩水。这些衍生品的合约规定，当一批被列入好几个高收益（即垃圾）指数的公司发生亏损时，伯克希尔-哈撒威需要履行其付款义务。这类衍生品标准的合约期限为5年，作为衍生品标的的公司为100家，不过伯克希尔-哈撒威所投资这类衍生品的平均期限现在不足3年。伯克希尔-哈撒威2008年为这些信贷衍生品支付了9,700万美元。不过巴菲特在2月底致股东的信中警告说，由于破产事件频发，损失急剧上升。他上周六说，自公司年报出炉以来，这些衍生品的情况更糟了。他说，这些信贷衍生品的潜在及预计损失体现在了伯克希尔-哈撒威第一季度的收益报告中。ALISTAIR BARR / SCOTT PATTERSON（更新完成）相关阅读巴菲特的老搭档芒格轶事 2009-05-01穆迪下调巴菲特旗下公司评级 2009-04-09高盛高管离职创业  巴菲特计划投资 2009-03-31李嘉诚和巴菲特谁更“超人”？ 2009-03-27巴菲特是否过于悲观了？ 2009-03-12巴菲特艰难的一年 自认“干蠢事” 2009-03-02 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年05月04日07:50', 'BRKA'));Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Cl A)总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：BRKadocument.write (truthmeter('2009年05月04日07:50', 'BRKB'));Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (cl B)总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：BRKb


Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s first-quarter operating profit fell slightly from a year ago as many of the company's businesses suffered from the recession, Chairman Warren Buffett said Saturday.Berkshire generated first-quarter operating earnings of $1.7 billion, down from $1.9 billion a year earlier, Mr. Buffett said at the company's annual shareholders meeting. Operating earnings exclude investment and derivative gains and losses. He didn't mention net income.Berkshire is due to report full quarterly results next week.Book value per share declined 6% in the latest quarter, mostly because of a decline in the value of Berkshire's investments.Berkshire ended the quarter with $22.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents. A $3 billion cash disbursement for its 2008 investment in Dow Chemical Co. made a day after the first quarter closed has left the company with less than $20 billion in cash, Mr. Buffett said.Berkshire owns 67 noninsurance operating companies and many of these businesses are in economically sensitive industries such as retailing, manufacturing and real estate.Mr. Buffett's remarks on the company's results came during a long session with shareholders, in which he and longtime partner Charlie Munger answered shareholder questions. Mr. Buffett fielded one of the more anticipated questions of the meeting early on: What is his opinion of Moody's Investors Service, which rated billions in mortgage securities triple A that subsequently lost value, and is a large holding of Berkshire?Mr. Buffett's answer was characteristically simple. Everyone made the same mistake: Housing prices would continue to increase forever. 'Basically, four or five years ago, virtually everybody in the country had this model in their heads, formal or otherwise, that house prices could not fall significantly,' he said, later adding that 'it was stupidity and the fact that everyone else was doing it.'Many Businesses SufferMr. Buffett said Saturday that most of Berkshire's businesses outside of insurance and the regulated utility industry suffered during the first quarter.'We're lucky to be in the insurance and utilities businesses,' Mr. Buffett said.Berkshire's insurance businesses generated first-quarter underwriting profit that was 'a little larger' than during the same period a year earlier, Mr. Buffett reported.Reported first-quarter earnings from Berkshire's utilities business declined 'somewhat' versus a year earlier, he added.The decline was mainly from marking the value of Berkshire's holdings of Constellation Energy shares to market and a final payment the company made to buyout options related to its acquisition of MidAmerican a decade ago, Mr. Buffett reported.'All of the other businesses are basically down' during the first quarter, Mr. Buffett said. 'We will continue to do quite well in our insurance and utility operations. We won't do well in other operations.'Mr. Buffett also warned that one type of credit derivative written by Berkshire has deteriorated in recent months.These derivatives require Berkshire to pay when losses occur at companies that are included in several high-yield, or junk, indexes. The standard contract runs for five years and is tied to 100 companies, although the average life of Berkshire's contracts are now less than three years.Berkshire made $97 million in payments in these credit derivatives in 2008. But Mr. Buffett warned in his latest shareholder letter in late February that losses have accelerated sharply amid a rash of bankruptcies.Those derivatives have 'turned worse since I wrote the annual report,' Mr. Buffett said Saturday.The potential and expected losses from these credit derivatives were reflected in Berkshire's first-quarter results, Mr. Buffett said.ALISTAIR BARR / SCOTT PATTERSON