Amy, Re:" the insurance industry must be in bad shape these days"
No, that's not necessarily the case.
" Berkshire Hathaway profits leap on insurance rates
OMAHA, Neb., Aug 9 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRKa - News), the holding company run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett,
reported a 35 percent rise in quarterly profits Friday, as its insurance operations made gains on rising premium rates.
Berkshire, whose insurance and reinsurance businesses provide money for Buffett to invest, reported a net second- quarter profit of $1.0 billion, or
$681 a share. That compared with $773 million, or $506 a share, the year before.
Excluding $13 million in realized gains from selling investments, Berkshire posted an operating profit of $1.0 billion, or $673 a share. That compared
with $353 million, or $231 a share, the previous year. On that basis, Wall Street expected $550 a share, on average, according to analysts polled by
research firm Thomson First Call.
The rise in profit comes as insurance and reinsurance rates continue to soar, after a decade of declines. Price increases were only accelerated by a surge
in demand for insurance and a tightening of supply after Sept. 11.
Berkshire's Class A stock, which has not been split in Buffett's 37 years in charge, closed at $71,000 a share Friday on the New York Stock
Exchange. The stock has fallen 6 percent so far this year, outperforming the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which has fallen 21 percent.
from Yahoo
Re:"The insurance industry is sharing their pain with the high-tech industry."
Take a look at a stock chart comparing the performance of Berkshire Hathaway (primarily an insurance company) versus INTC, MSFT, CSCO, SUNW over the past 2 years. You might be surprised. |
