New York, February 25 Berkshire Hathaway, the company of billionaire Warren Buffett, posted net losses in 2022 of $22.819 million, compared to profits of $89.795 million recorded in 2021, due to stock market volatility.
Regarding the last quarter of the year, the company based in Omaha (Nebraska) announced this Saturday a profit of 18.164 million dollars, less than half of the 39.646 made between October and December 2021.
The accounts of Buffett’s firm have been particularly volatile since 2018 due to an accounting standard that came into effect at that time which requires including the change in the value of the shares in its possession, which, given its enormous portfolio, causes large movements depending on the direction of the markets.
The famous investor, very critical of these accounting rules, always points to operating profits as a more reliable way to see the progress of his company.
Each year, his company’s statement usually contains a disclaimer to this effect: “The amount of investment gains/losses in a given quarter is often meaningless and results in net earnings (losses) per share that may be very misleading for investors with little or no knowledge of accounting standards”.
Based on these operational advantages, Berkshire Hathaway earned a profit in 2022 of $30,793 million, or 12.15% more than the $27,455 million recorded in 2021.
Following this logic, in the last quarter of 2022, the investment company posted operating profits of 6,709, which is 7.9% less than the 7,285 million dollars obtained between October and December 2021.
In a letter from Buffet to investors, he assures that “Berkshire will always hold a large amount of cash and US Treasuries as well as a wide range of businesses”.
“We will also avoid behaviors that could lead to uncomfortable cash needs at inopportune times, including unprecedented financial panics and insurance losses,” said the investor, known in the financial world as ‘Oracle of Omaha.
In the announcement, the company said that in the quarter it would be used approximately 2,600 million dollars to recomprar shares of Berkshire, where it raised the total of the year to 7,900 million dollars in addition to the titles of the propia company in the new premiums months of the year. EFE
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