OMAHA (dpa-AFX) - Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) reported that its fourth quarter net earnings attributable to its shareholders declined to $19.694 billion or $13,695 per Class A share from $37.574 billion or $26,043 per Class A share in the same quarter last year.
Operating earnings for the latest quarter were $14.527 billion, higher than $8.481 billion in the prior year. This was primarily due to gains in its insurance operations and from foreign currency benefits.
Insurance investment income jumped to $4.088 billion from $2.759 billion in the last year.
Investment gains for the quarter fell to $5.167 billion from last year's $29.093 billion.
For the year ending December 31, 2024, the company's net earnings attributable to shareholders were $88.995 billion, down from prior year's $96.223 billion. Net earnings per average equivalent Class A share were $61,900, down from $66,412 in the previous year.
Investment gains for the year were $41.558 billion, lower than $58.873 billion reported a year ago.
However, Berkshire's operating earnings rose to $47.437 billion in 2024, compared to $37.350 billion in 2023.
Insurance investment income climbed to $13.670 billion from $9.567 billion in the last year.
Total revenues for the year rose to $371.433 billion from $364.482 billion in the prior year.
Net underwriting earnings for the year surged to $9.020 billion from last year's $5.428 billion.
Meanwhile, Berkshire said it used about $2.9 billion to repurchase Berkshire shares during 2024.
'In 2024, Berkshire did better than I expected though 53% of our 189 operating businesses reported a decline in earnings. We were aided by a predictable large gain in investment income as Treasury Bill yields improved and we substantially increased our holdings of these highly-liquid short-term securities,' Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire, said in his annual letter to shareholders. 'Our insurance business also delivered a major increase in earnings, led by the performance of GEICO.'
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