Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) (NYSE:BRK.A) Q4 net operating earnings rise to $5.72B from $3.34B a year ago. By segment:
• Insurance-underwriting loss of $225M vs. loss of $491M a year ago.
• Insurance-investment income of $1.16B vs $970M a year ago.
• Railroad, utilities, and energy $1.74B vs. $1.21B a year ago.
• Other businesses $2.34B vs. $1.82B a year ago.
• Insurance float was about $123B at Dec. 31, 2018, an increase of $8B since 2017-end.
• Book value per class A equivalent share was $212,503 at Dec. 31, 2018 vs. $228,712 at Sept. 30, 2018.
• Q4 net loss of $24.4B includes investment losses of about $28.5B from a reduction in the amount of unrealized gains that existed in its equity security investment holdings and are net of taxable gains on sales of investments of about $460M in Q4. |