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Investment company Berkshire Hathaway has sold its entire stake in the four largest airlines in the United States.
“We don’t want to fund companies that we think will consume money in the future,” says CEO Warren Buffett.
The Corona virus has contributed a staggering SEK 500 billion to the “Omaha oracle”.
The giant conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway He was one of the largest owners of all the airlines involved, and the decision to sell the shares came after the companies’ outlook changed during the crown pandemic, states founder, CEO and chief owner Warren Buffett , one of the most talked about investors in the world.
“The airline industry has fundamentally changed,” says Buffett, 89, at the company’s annual general meeting, the Reuters news agency reports.
At the end of the year, Berkshire Hathaway held between 9 and 11 percent of the shares in each of the Delta, American, Southwest and United companies. Those investments were made just a few years ago: In 2016 it was announced that Berkshire Hathaway began investing in aviation, having previously avoided the industry.
Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, said his company had invested between $ 7 and $ 8 billion in the airlines, but now sold its stake at a loss.
“We are not approaching 7 or 8 billion and that is my mistake. I made that decision. “
If confidence in the flight has disappeared, Buffett has not lost faith in the United States, which he says will recover.
“We have faced more difficult times and American magic has always survived and will continue to do so even now,” he says, adding:
“Never bet against the United States.”
Berkshire Hathaway In his quarterly report, he reports a net loss of a staggering $ 49.75 billion, which corresponds to about SEK 500 billion. In the corresponding period last year, the company made a profit of close to $ 22 billion.
But these figures also include unrealized increases and decreases in stocks, and Buffett has dismissed them as pointless formalism, according to Reuters.
Operating profit, where such fluctuations are not included, increased 6 percent during the quarter to $ 5.87 billion. According to Buffett, this is a better picture of how the company has performed.
The Berkshire Hathaway Annual General Meeting generally attracts thousands of shareholders, but this year it was held digitally from the company’s headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska.
According to analysts, it was notable that Buffett’s business partner from the mid-1900s, now Charlie Munger, 96, did not attend the video conference.
