Berkshire Hathaway Turned a Profit in 2008

Omaha, NE, March 2, 2009--Berkshire Hathaway's net profit fell 96%, the fifth quarterly straight decline and the firm's net worth dropped $10.9 billion dollars in the final three months of 2008.

"The economy will be in shambles throughout 2009," said CEO Warren Buffet.

Net income for Berkshire's shares shrank to $117 million or $76.00 per class A share. Revenue fell 12% to $24.6 billion. Yet operating profit rose to about $3.4 billion.

Buffet, like many other big investors, was playing the high-stakes derivatives market and got burned badly. Berkshire lost $4.6 billion on 251 derivative contracts.

For all of 2008, profit at Berskhire fell 62% to a 6-year low of $4.99 billion, or $3.22 per share. Revenue fell 9% to $107.8 billion. Berkshire's shares have fallen 44% since the end of February 2008.

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