The holding company Berkshire Hathaway from US star investor Warren Buffett increased its operating profit significantly in the first quarter despite the corona crisis.
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Compared to the previous year, earnings rose in the three months to the end of March by around six percent to $ 5.9 billion (€ 5.3 billion), as Berkshire Hathaway said in Omaha on Saturday. In the important insurance division, revenues grew strongly.
Meanwhile, Berkshire posted a record loss of $ 50 billion in net income as the recent stock market turmoil massively reduced many stocks. However, this indicator is considered unsuitable as a yardstick for the course of business, since it is distorted by the reporting of unrealized investment gains and losses and fluctuates enormously. For comparison, there was a $ 21.7 billion surplus in the same period last year.
However, the pressure on 89-year-old Buffett to invest Berkshire Hathaway’s high cash reserves does not diminish in the crisis. At the end of the quarter, the stock market guru was on $ 137 billion in cash, nearly $ 10 billion more than a quarter earlier. The financial markets have been looking forward to his next big deal for years. Buffett has struggled with acquisitions for a long time because the valuations are too high for him.
So far, the investor legend has remained relatively covered over the Corona crisis, but that could change this weekend. His supporters eagerly awaited what Buffett would say about the financial markets situation at the Berkshire Hathaway general meeting on Saturday evening (CEST). The event, which is actually known as the “Woodstock of the Capitalists” and which usually attracts tens of thousands to Omaha in Nebraska, can only take place on the Internet this time because of the pandemic.
/ hbr / DP / nas
OMAHA (dpa-AFX)
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