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To: Didi who wrote (2259)	3/8/2003 8:59:11 AM
From: Didi	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2505

"Berkshire 4th-Qtr Profit Rises 12-Fold to $1.18 Bln" Berkshire: ... berkshirehathaway.com ... berkshirehathaway.com "Buffett's Berkshire 4th-Qtr Profit Rises 12-Fold to $1.18 Bln" quote.bloomberg.com ================= >>>03/08 08:23 Buffett's Berkshire 4th-Qtr Profit Rises 12-Fold to $1.18 Bln By David Plumb New York, March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported fourth-quarter profit soared 12-fold from a year earlier after the company's insurance businesses reversed losses by raising prices. Berkshire's net earnings climbed to $1.18 billion, or $772 per Class A share, from $95 million, or $63 a share, a year earlier, according a statement on the company's Web site. Berkshire, which owns General Reinsurance Corp. and car insurer Geico Corp., has vetted unprofitable policies while benefiting from a surge in rates after Sept. 11. Insurance, which accounts more than 50 percent of the company's revenue, is helping Buffett bring in about $100 million in cash a week. ``A world of distress and weak markets play to Berkshire's strengths,'' said Keith Trauner, an analyst at Fairholme Capital Management, which owned $232 million of Berkshire shares as of December. Berkshire's 2002 annual profit of $4.29 billion was the largest ever. Berkshire's insurance units lost $1.24 billion in 2001, causing profit to plunge 76 percent. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company's more than three-dozen businesses include MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., Executive Jet Inc., Fruit of the Loom Ltd., as well as paint, carpet, shoe, candy and furniture stores. It is also the biggest shareholder of Coca-Cola Co. and American Express Co. Buffett, the world's second richest man, said in his annual investment letter that he is shunning stocks because they are too expensive and has turned to buying junk bonds. Skipping Equities ``Despite three years of falling prices, which have significantly improved the attractiveness of common stocks, we still find very few that even mildly interest us,'' Buffett wrote. ``We continue to do very little in equities.'' The billionaire also condemned derivatives, calling them ``time bombs, both for the parties that deal with them and the economic system.'' Derivatives are contracts pegged to price changes in underlying assets or indexes. Berkshire shares have gained 13 percent since the bear market began three years ago, compared with a 43 percent drop for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The shares rose $1,210 to $64,800 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading Friday. <<