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 Earnings fell short of analyst forecasts as profit declined from
insurance underwriting, though results improved in Berkshire's
railroad and energy operations.
Net income fell to $4.16 billion, or $2,529 per Class A share, from
$4.99 billion, or $3,035 per share, a year earlier.
Quarterly operating profit rose 5 percent to $3.96 billion, or
$2,412 per share, from $3.78 billion, or $2,297 per share.
Analysts on average had forecast operating profit of $2,701 per
share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Quarterly revenue rose
3 percent to $48.26 billion.
Book value per share, which Buffett considers a good measure of
Berkshire's worth, rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier to $146,186.
For all of 2014, profit rose 2 percent to $19.87 billion, or $12,092
per share, while operating profit rose 9 percent to $16.55 billion,
or $10,071 per share.
Buffett, 84, has run Berkshire since 1965, transforming it from a
failing textile company into a conglomerate with more than 80
operating businesses in such areas as insurance, railroads, energy,
food and apparel, and real estate.
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The Omaha, Nebraska-based company also has $117.5 billion of equity
investments, roughly 59 percent of which is in just four stocks:
American Express Co <AXP.N>, Coca-Cola Co <KO.N>, IBM Corp <IBM.N>
and Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N>.
Berkshire ended the year with $63.27 billion of cash, giving Buffett
the ability to make one or more large acquisitions while still
leaving a sufficient cushion.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Holmes)
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