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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway suffered a loss of $ 49.7 billion in the first three months of the year as the sharp sell-off in global stock markets hurt its investment portfolio.
The sprawling industrial conglomerate revealed on Saturday that its equity portfolio, which includes stocks in front-line groups like Apple and Bank of America, declined by $ 55.5 billion in value in the quarter along with the 20 percent drop in the S&P 500.
That decline more than offset the improvement in underlying earnings in Berkshire, which owns the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, insurer Geico and chocolate maker See’s Candies. Operating income increased 5.7 percent from a year earlier to $ 5.9 billion, as the investment earnings of its insurance business increased.
“The amount of investment earnings [and] losses in any quarter are generally meaningless and offer net earnings per share figures that can be extremely misleading for investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules, “the company said in a statement.
Berkshire’s cash pile increased to a record $ 137 billion and the group transferred a large chunk of that to US Treasury bills. USA In the first quarter, he showed a presentation to US regulators. USA
Buffett has struggled for more than four years to invest that cash in one of the major acquisitions the company is known for. The so-called Oracle of Omaha has attributed the high capital valuations in previous letters to investors as one of the main reasons why the company has remained on the sidelines, as other large publicly traded groups went shopping in the last years.
Berkshire shares have fallen 19 percent this year to $ 273,975.
