Hurricane Losses Drive Berkshire Q3 Results Down 3

Omaha, NE, November 8--Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company run by Warren Buffett, said late Friday that third-quarter net income fell 37 percent after hurricane losses at its insurance divisions. Net income was $1.14 billion, or $739 per class A share, in the period, down from $1.81 billion, or $1,176 a share, a year earlier, the company said in a statement on its Web site. Earnings excluding investment gains and losses came in at $619 million in the period, down from $1.35 billion a year earlier. Hurricanes that hit the U.S. and the Caribbean in August and September cost the firm $816 million, after tax, Berkshire said. That knocked the performance of Berkshire's insurance underwriting division, which lost $215 million in the third quarter. Last year, that unit made a profit of $260 million. Berkshire's other businesses, which include T-shirt maker Fruit of the Loom, carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries and ice-cream chain Dairy Queen, earned a total $371 million in the third quarter, down from $608 million a year ago. Those results were hurt by a one-time charge of $255 million after Berkshire wrote off an investment in mineral-extraction facilities developed by MidAmerican Energy Holdings in 2002. Berkshire held $38.1 billion in cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter, up from $10.3 billion 21 months ago, after selling long-term U.S. government securities and high-yield corporate bonds, the company said. As of Sept. 30, the company owned foreign-exchange forward contracts in eight currencies with a notional value of about $20 billion, the firm added.

Related Topics:Shaw Industries Group, Inc.

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