Berkshire Hathaway News Briefs - 8/8/17

Berkshire Hathaway: Insurance Losses Drag Down Second-Quarter Operating Earnings

Berkshire Hathaway reported that operating earnings, a figure which excludes volatile investment gains and derivative fluctuations, declined 11% to $4.1 billion in the second quarter compared to the year-ago period. Net income, which includes investment gains, fell 15% to $4.3 billion. A drop in insurance underwriting profit led the decline in operating earnings and net income.

Berkshire Posts Mixed Results as Expenses Rise

Wide-moat-rated Berkshire Hathaway released second-quarter results that were more mixed than we had expected, with the company reporting solid top-line but weaker bottom-line results. We do not expect to change our $290,000 ($193) per Class A (B) share fair value estimate.

Second-quarter (first-half) revenue increased 6.0% (15.3%) to $57.5 ($122.7) billion. Excluding the impact of investment and derivative gains (losses), second-quarter (and first-half) revenue increased 7.3% (and 16.5%). With expenses increasing at a higher rate than revenue during the second quarter, operating earnings declined 10.6% during the period, leaving first-half operating earnings down 8.0%. Net earnings, which includes the impact of investment and derivative gains (losses) were down 14.8% and 21.4% during the second quarter and first half of the year, respectively.

That said, we remain impressed with Berkshire's ability to increase its book value per Class A equivalent share--which rose 14.3% year over year to $182,816 (better than our own estimate of $182,525)--aided primarily by the strong performance of its equity investment portfolio during 2017. The company closed out the second quarter with $99.7 billion in cash on its books, up from $96.5 billion at the end of March and $86.4 billion at the end of 2016.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Earnings Up on Solar Rebound

Berkshire Hathaway Energy reported a $38 million increase in earnings for the second quarter over a year earlier, largely because of improved performance of BHE Renewables.

The renewable unit saw net income increase $39 million due primarily to higher generation at the Solar Star projects, which were hobbled by transformer-related forced outages in 2016. It also benefited from earnings from tax equity investments reaching commercial operation and additional wind and solar capacity placed in service. [...]

Warren Buffett's Old Retail Businesses Are Oddly Doing Well as Amazon Runs Over Everyone

While bricks-and-mortar retail is largely a disaster, billionaire investor Warren Buffett seems to have struck gold again—in Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s retail businesses. [...]

Berkshire, too, reported, within its retail segment, that revenue from its home-furnishing retailers [such as Star Furniture and Jordan's Furniture], online kitchen and cooking supplies seller Pampered Chef and candy maker See's Candies, rose in the second quarter. [...]

Berkshire's retailers are set up primarily as standalone stores or are online, and are not tied to malls, which makes the business less exposed to the downturn in the industry. [...]

With e-commerce hurting malls, See’s Candies seeks way forward

[...] Nearly half of See's 240 stores are located in malls, a format suffering from dwindling traffic and the financial stress of anchor tenants like department stores. [...]

The company does not release financial results, but CEO Brad Kinstler tells me See's annual sales typically grow in the mid-single digits. IBISWorld research firm estimates that See's generated about $485.3 million in revenue last year, representing 5 percent annualized growth rate over the past 5 years.

The synergies between making and selling chocolate, combined with low cocoa prices, affords See's with robust profit margins, IBISWorld says. The firm estimates that See's controls about 31.4 percent of the specialty chocolate retail market, far ahead of Godiva (18.4 percent) and Lindt & Sprungli (10 percent). [...]

Kinstler insists that See's draws its own traffic, independent of the mall anchors. But he does acknowledge that the struggles of malls pose potential problems for his company.

"It’s a tough time to operate a business inside a mall," Kinstler said. "It will take a while before we know what indoor malls look like in the future." [...]

Berkshire Hathaway sets up specialist insurer in Dublin

Berkshire Hathaway has established a speciality insurance business in Ireland aimed at winning a share of the commercial insurance market here . The company will target larger business clients in sectors such as commercial property, general commercial liability, healthcare liability and finance. [...]

BHSI [Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance] is part of the global empire of Berkshire Hathaway, the giant US company led by Warren Buffett, which has stakes in major businesses worldwide. The move to Ireland is an expansion of its existing European speciality insurance business, run from London, which provides commercial property, casualty, executive and professional lines, including cyber and healthcare liability insurance. [...]

Paxton shoots down loophole for Buffett’s Texas dealerships

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is declining to come to the rescue of Warren Buffett’s automobile dealerships in the state.

In an opinion issued late Monday afternoon, Paxton essentially said that legal semantics are unlikely to be successful in helping Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate maneuver around a Texas law that appears to prohibit it from owning dealerships in Texas because it also owns an Indiana-based manufacturer of recreational vehicles. [...]

Buffett's Profit From This Paint Company Has Been Almost Wiped Out

Warren Buffett’s profits from a 2015 investment in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. have been fading.

Axalta, the maker of paint for autos, plunged 7.9 percent Thursday in New York to $29.25. That compares with the $28 price that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to pay two years ago for 20 million shares, for a total of $560 million. His Omaha, Nebraska-based company acquired the stock from affiliates of Carlyle Group LP. [...]

Berkshire was the largest investor in the coatings company as of Dec. 31, with a stake of more than 9 percent, according to a filing from Philadelphia-based Axalta. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Stock Is Increasingly Less About Buffett

Berkshire Hathaway was so big, and commanded so much capital, that many of his ideal picks might only end up as a rounding error on the book value of the stock. So he changed course. He hired two “young guns,” as he called them, and turned over two small portions of Berkshire Hathaway’s capital to manage.

Todd Combs and Ted Weschler continue to out-gun their boss, not by being particularly better, but rather by doing what Buffett used to do when Berkshire Hathaway was new and small. They bought stocks that were classic Buffett. And since their funds were relatively small — at a billion dollars or so — they could at least make an impact on their portion of Berkshire’s stock value. [...]

But now, Buffett as well as Combs and Weschler are changing course. The new course will be to de-emphasize stock selection and in turn run the company as a collection of its operating businesses. This will effectively make Berkshire Hathaway more of a traditional big conglomerate company rather than a stock-picking investment company. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/10/17

CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Berkshire insurance unit sues Goodyear over asbestos claims

Berkshire said Goodyear claimed to have in 2008 exhausted a policy from another insurer for the asbestos claims, but waited until November 2015 to seek reimbursement from Berkshire for "several millions of dollars" under an "excess" policy.

It also said Goodyear had never asked for help in defending against the claims prior to November 2015.

About 62,000 claims are pending against Goodyear in states including Florida, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas over alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products as floor tiles, furnace hoses, gaskets and heat shields, Berkshire said.

Berkshire Hathaway affiliate buys Prism Plastics

Precision automotive molder Prism Plastics Inc. has been sold to a subsidiary of Marmon Engineered Components Co., according to an announcement from Altus Capital Partners, the investment firm that had owned Chesterfield, Mich.-headquartered Prism along with its founders since June 2014.

Marmon is an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the publicly traded conglomerate headed by Warren Buffett.

Under Altus ownership Prism has undertaken several growth initiatives, including the June 2016 acquisition of Tech Molded Plastics Inc. of Meadville, Pa. That move doubled Prism’s size and added in-house toolmaking capabilities. [...]

Berkshire subsidiary on renewable energy push across the West

PacifiCorp, a division of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, issued a three-year, $3.5 billion plan for its renewable energy system from Wyoming to California.

The six-state plan will add 900 megawatts of capacity by upgrading generators with larger blades and new technology, build a 140-mile-long power line in Wyoming and add 1,100 megawatts of new wind projects. [...]

The plan includes adding another 1,000 megawatts of solar generators in the states by 2036. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway's Media Group Cuts 289 Newspaper Jobs Nationwide

BH Media Group, the newspaper division of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., announced yesterday that it was cutting 289 jobs at its newspapers across the country yesterday. The cuts included the elimination of 108 jobs that currently are vacant.

The reasons for the job losses are depressingly familiar in the newspaper industry: loss of circulation and advertising revenue, lagging revenue from the digital side of the business.

Terry Kroeger, president and CEO of BH Media, sent a memo to employees yesterday. "While more readers than ever turn to our digital products, our digital revenue is not growing fast enough yet to offset print revenue losses from both advertising and circulation," he wrote. "Therefore, we need to cut our expenses." [...]

The Buffett Series – Thinking About Competitive Advantage

A key requirement for a company to earn high returns on capital over a long period of time is to have a competitive advantage, commonly referred to as a 'moat'. Mr Buffett addresses the issue of competition in his 1993 letter where he talks about the Nebraska Furniture Mart, a businesses he acquired from Rose Blumkin [aka Mrs B.] in 1983. Under the motto "sell cheap and tell the truth," she worked in the business until age 103.

Nebraska Furniture Mart is a pretty simple business, it sells furniture, flooring and home appliances. It's easy to understand and it's unlikely to be subject to a lot of change. In ten years time it will still be selling furniture. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway: An In-Depth Look At Normalized Return On Equity

How much would you pay for a $298 billion perpetual bond with an 8.5% coupon and $66 billion of additional cash? While this seems like an odd question, I would argue it is the one you're trying to answer when choosing to invest, or not invest, in Berkshire Hathaway. No, Berkshire common stock is not a bond; however, as I will try to demonstrate, while Berkshire's stated GAAP earnings are volatile, its underlying return on shareholders' equity is highly consistent, not entirely dissimilar to a bond coupon. This analysis will disaggregate Berkshire's constituent assets and liabilities in its various business segments and the earnings attributable to those segments. Doing so will allow us to uncover what I will term a "steady-state" return on equity. With that return in hand, we can then determine the "yield" and subsequent value to assign our "bond."

Steelworker wins $100,000 in Buffett's March Madness bracket

[Dwayne] Johnson, who works in a steel factory in Huntington, West Virginia, was sitting on his couch Saturday afternoon when Buffett called to tell him that, with 31 out of 32 correct predictions in his March Madness bracket, he'd be winning $100,000 of the billionaire's money. (If Johnson had correctly called South Carolina's victory over Marquette, he would've received a cool $1 million.) [...]

Johnson says the $105,000 in winnings - which include an additional $5,000 from his employer, Precision Castparts - will help him pay off credit card debt and buy a new car. He also plans to save six months' worth of expenses in case he loses his job, something he says he has worried about in recent months after widespread layoffs at the steel mill where he has worked for nearly 10 years. He makes $21.13 an hour as a welder at the company, which Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway purchased two years ago for nearly $32 billion. [...]

Cherry Coke, China and Warren Buffett: 'He's selling well'

People in China are coming face to face with Warren Buffett's love for Cherry Coke.
A cartoon rendering of the billionaire investor is appearing on special edition Cherry Coke cans all over the world's most populous nation.
Buffett is helping Coke launch the flavored soda in China, a sugary drink the 86-year-old claims is his secret to staying young. [...]

Berkshire Misc. Briefs - 1/5/17

There was a lot of news last month, and I fell behind on posting, so there are three posts this time. This is part 3, with miscellaneous news that didn't fit in the other two categories. That doesn't mean these are any less interesting, though!

(Part 1 - General Business | Part 2 - Subsidiaries)

HBO Sets Warren Buffett Documentary Premiere Date

HBO announced the premiere date for upcoming documentary “Becoming Warren Buffett” on Wednesday. The personal profile will premiere on Jan. 30 at 10 p.m./9c and will tell the true story of how an ambitious, numbers-obsessed boy from Nebraska became one of the richest men in the world.

Told primarily in Buffett’s own words, the film features never-before-released home videos, family photographs, archival footage and interviews with family and friends. [...]

Watch the trailer on YouTube.

Why Yahoo Shared an Investor Meeting in Omaha With the World

In April 2016, for the first time Yahoo Finance livestreamed the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting; a profitable venture for the industry-leading site (Yahoo Finance in November recorded 63 million monthly unique visitors, per comScore). This livestream was Yahoo Finance's longest, most complex endeavor to date, given it hosted the event on its platform. [...]

It all started with an email from Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. "It said, 'Call me,'" recalled Yahoo Finance editor Andy Serwer. "So, I called him up. And he said 'I've got this idea. What do you think about livestreaming my annual meeting?' And I said 'yes' as quickly as I could!" [...]

The first-of-its-kind meeting was Buffett's idea. "I asked him later why he came to us," said Serwer. "He said there were several reasons: you successfully executed an NFL game. (The Buffalo Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars matchup in October 2015 netted 15.2 million viewers.) You have the technology to do it. You have the global platform. And, then he also said, 'I have this relationship with you and I know that I can just call you up anytime and get through to you.'"

Berkshire Hathaway to bet on earthquake insurance in Japan

An insurance company under Berkshire Hathaway of the U.S. is considering making a foray into Japan, betting on the potential of the country's earthquake insurance market.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance plans to operate as a reinsurer, purchasing earthquake insurance contracts from casualty insurers in Japan, according to Marc Breuil, a BHSI executive in charge of Asia. [...]

After BHSI starts selling earthquake reinsurance in Japan, earthquake policies may become widespread in the country. Currently, about 10% of Japanese companies are insured against temblors. This is stunted compared to the rate in other earthquake-prone countries.

One major reason for the low percentage is the relatively high premiums for earthquake insurance when compared to fire insurance. Another reason is that insurers have refrained from actively selling earthquake policies to companies, citing unstable prices in the reinsurance market.

Buffett's Berkshire Is Urged to Sell Fossil Fuel Stocks

A Nebraska nonprofit has said it will propose that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sell its investments in oil refiner Phillips 66 and other companies involved in fossil fuels over 12 years.

The Nebraska Peace Foundation, which focuses on anti-war, civil rights and environmental issues, said it submitted a formal proposal for Berkshire shareholders to consider at the Omaha-based conglomerate's annual meeting next May 6.

Buffett’s Son Steps Down From Coke Board to Focus on Charity

Howard Buffett, the son of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett, is stepping down from the board of Coca-Cola Co. to spend more time working at his foundation. [...] He runs the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which supports sustainable agriculture and conflict resolution programs. He also has operated a 1,500-acre (600-hectare) farm in Illinois and has written books on topics such as world hunger and conservation.

Warren Buffett makes appearance at Dolphins-Cardinals game

The Miami Dolphins have a special guest for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Business tycoon Warren Buffett roamed the Dolphins’ sideline pregame to talk to members of the organization and show his support.

Buffett, who is one of the richest people in the world, has attended Dolphins games in the past. He was at last year’s home opener and is friends with four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/12/16

Mars Cashes Out Warren Buffett to Take Control of Wrigley

Mars Inc. has finally taken full control of Wrigley, formally putting M&Ms and Altoids mints in the same division — and cashing out its partner, Warren E. Buffett, in the process. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway helped Mars buy Wrigley for about $23 billion in 2008. It was a classic deal for the billionaire, who has traditionally favored acquisitions involving well-known names and strongly performing businesses.

But there was a lucrative element in the way Mr. Buffett participated in the transaction. As part of the arrangement, Berkshire received preferred shares worth about $2.1 billion, which paid a 5 percent annual dividend, and $4.4 billion worth of bonds that carried a hefty 11.45 percent interest rate. [...]

Berkshire Is Bigger Than Buffett

We think two big concerns--a belief that Berkshire Hathaway's size will prevent it from growing at a decent clip in the future and that the company's shares will get pummeled once Buffett no longer runs the show--have kept some investors on the sidelines. Although we believe that the wide-moat firm is unlikely to consistently grow its book value per share at a double-digit rate, something that happened nine times during 2001-15 and 40 times during 1965-2015, we think that Berkshire can grow its book value per share at a high-single- to double-digit rate going forward, much as we've seen since the start of the new millennium. This type of growth should leave returns solidly and consistently above the firm's cost of capital [...]

Cash is piling up faster than Warren Buffett can invest it

Warren Buffett has the kind of money problem most people would envy: a growing mountain of cash.

Nearly $73 billion piled up at Berkshire Hathaway by mid-summer, more than Buffett’s conglomerate has ever held before.

And the total continues growing every day Buffett doesn’t make a major investment because Berkshire’s 90-odd businesses generate roughly $1.5 billion in cash every month. [...]

Yahoo Finance to Host Exclusive Live Stream of Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting for Second Year

Yahoo! Inc. today announced that it will host the exclusive live stream of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting on Saturday May 6, 2017, for the second year in a row. Approximately 40,000 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders from around the world attend the highly anticipated annual event. In 2016, Yahoo Finance opened the meeting to the general public via live stream, for the first time ever, with more than 1 million viewers tuning in. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Eyes Growth Despite Cat Loss Concerns

Berkshire Hathaway’s non-insurance businesses like utilities and & energy, and manufacturing, service & retail, have been reporting favorable results. In fact, total revenue from manufacturing, service and retail has improved substantially over the past several quarters. The strong results across most of the units can be attributed to better economic conditions and higher consumer demand.

Also, the company’s book value has been improving consistently. The insurer’s already robust book value growth is expected to be boosted further with the turn of the economy, increased gains from the value of the derivatives positions, and continued positive contribution from earnings growth in insurance operations. [...]

Atlas Bolt & Screw President Ridenour to retire

Randy Ridenour, President of Atlas Bolt & Screw Company LLC, has decided to retire at the end of 2016 after 32 years with the company. [...]

Atlas Bolt & Screw Company, a Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway company, offers a wide range of construction fasteners that reduce installation costs and extend the lives of metal buildings worldwide. [...]

Shaw Contract eyes smaller town, to raise investment limit

Shaw Contract, a business unit of Shaw Industries Group Inc which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, is looking to penetrate into the small towns and also raise investment limit in the country. The Bengaluru [India]-based Shaw Contract India has been in operations for over two decades and is the second-largest supplier of commercial carpet tiles in the country with a market share of around 22 percent, the company claimed. [...]

Berkshire can't resist India any more, to return with reinsurance business

Warren Buffett, who had exited India three years back citing regulatory suffocation, can’t resist India any more. Berkshire Hathaway is in fact returning to India with a plan to set up a reinsurance branch which would be much bigger than what it was when it was into insurance broking. [...]

Currently, Berkshire is present in India as a services company and is a leader of reinsurance treaty — purchased by insurers from one or more other companies — of large insurance companies including Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

The company provides support services such as data collection, market research and training to insurance companies. As a leader of the treaty, it reinsures vast portions of the risk underwritten by these companies. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company Expands to Macau, Makes Local Office Appointments

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) today announced that it has received a license to provide insurance and reinsurance in Macau and filled key positions in its newly established Macau office. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/18/16

Anonymous bidder pays $3.46 million for Warren Buffett lunch (Reuters)

Buffett has only revealed that the winning bidder was a woman this year.

An anonymous bidder agreed at auction to pay $3,456,789 to eat lunch with Warren Buffett, tying the record for the right to dine with one of the world's most admired investors.

Money will go to Glide, a San Francisco charity that provides food, health care and other services to people who are homeless, poor or struggling with substance abuse.

Warren Buffett’s Dicey Power Play (Bloomberg)

When Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought Nevada’s main utility, NV Energy, three years ago, it inherited a lucrative customer base: the neon-lit, air-conditioned casino-hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. Now they’re in the midst of a costly split. Lured by the prospect of cheaper, cleaner energy elsewhere, two of the Strip’s biggest power users, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts, told regulators in May they’re willing to pay millions in fees to ditch NV Energy’s services. [...]

Berkshire Energy Units Barred From Selling Power at Market Rates (Bloomberg)

Units of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., including PacifiCorp and NV Energy, were barred from selling power at market rates and must instead set prices based on the cost of running their plants.

More than a dozen Berkshire Hathaway power suppliers serving consumers in the West failed to prove they couldn’t exercise market power, according to an order from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late Thursday. The companies must revise rates from Jan. 9, 2015, to April 9 and provide refunds within 30 days of the order, according to the filing. [...]

Quicken founder and Warren Buffett have ties beyond Yahoo deal (Reuters)

The connection between Quicken Loans Inc founder Dan Gilbert and billionaire magnate Warren Buffett became evident last month with news that Buffett was backing Gilbert's surprise bid for Yahoo Inc.

But the two men have another business connection that hasn't been reported: an exclusive mortgage-purchasing agreement between Quicken and a subsidiary of Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. [...]

Warren Buffett: I’m looking to invest more in women (Independent)

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, told the audience at the first ever United State of Women summit in Washington DC that he currently invests in six companies with female CEOs and is "looking for more”.

He also has three women on the board of Berkshire Hathaway and wants to up that number too.

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway buys North Park Toyota (My San Antonio)

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Automotive Inc. has purchased a controlling stake in North Park Toyota — the company’s first dealership in the San Antonio area.

Jeffrey Rachor, president and CEO of Berkshire’s automotive group, signed a 20-year lease for the dealership’s 23.7-acre property on April 4, with an option to buy.

Berkshire Hathaway Group’s Specialty Insurance Operation Opens German Office, Makes Executive Appointments in Northern Europe (Business Wire)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) in coordination with its affiliate Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Limited (BHIIL), today announced that it has established its office in Düsseldorf, Germany, and filled key executive roles in Northern Europe. [...]

Vestas scores massive order for Warren Buffett-backed wind farm (Denver Business Journal)

Vestas Wind Systems, with four manufacturing plants in Colorado, has reached a conditional agreement to supply up to 1,000 wind turbines to a massive wind farm in Iowa.

It's the largest order ever for a U.S. wind farm and believed to be one of the largest orders in the world, according to industry experts.

The buyer is MidAmerican Energy Co., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy [...] With the investment in Wind XI, MidAmerica expects wind farms will provide 85 percent of the energy it delivers to its Iowa customers.

Berkshire News Briefs - 5/10/16

Did Warren Buffet Just Blow $3.6 Billion? (Fool)

Recently, utility MidAmerican Energy, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, blew away renewable energy investors with a surprising announcement: It plans to invest $3.6 billion in wind energy by 2020. This is one of the largest wind energy investments ever made and is a calculated decision on the part of Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and MidAmerican Energy. [...]

Warren Buffett's company buys Gallatin's Goodall Homes (Tennessean)

A subsidiary of billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has acquired Gallatin-based Goodall Homes, continuing its expansion into detached single-family and other traditional homes.

The nation's largest manufactured house maker, Clayton Homes of Maryville, Tenn., didn't disclose the price it paid for Middle Tennessee's second-largest homebuilder.

Goodall Homes will become part of Clayton Properties, the site-building group through which Clayton Homes is expanding its portfolio of housing options to homebuyers. Last fall, Clayton Homes bought Atlanta area-based homebuilder Chafin Communities as part of that push. [...]

Warren Buffett-Led Berkshire Discloses Unit's Ties To Iran, Opens Probe (NDTV)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Friday said it recently learned that one of its foreign units made sales through a third-party distributor to customers in Iran, despite US sanctions against that country.

In its quarterly report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire said it alerted federal authorities including the Department of the Treasury on Friday about the transactions in question. [...]

Warren Buffett's Jewelry Business Just Bought Gemvara (BostInno)

Gemvara announced Wednesday it has been acquired by Richline Group, a Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.A) subsidiary that specializes in jewelry marketing, manufacturing and distribution. The acquisition will take Gemvara back to its early roots, providing e-commerce and in-store digital tech for Richline's brands and its customers, which include companies both inside and outside the Berkshire Hathaway umbrella. [...]

Benjamin Moore CEO: Warren Buffett is very particular about the promises he makes (Yahoo)

"There was a period of time where the dealers didn't trust us because there was talk of us going into the big boxes. For the independent dealer, that would have been a broken promise by Warren Buffett," Searles said, adding that the promise was never broken. "Warren is very particular about promises he makes...All we have done is listen more closely to our customers. We have the best products in the world." [...]

Energy Companies Launch Critical Transmission Equipment Sparing Company (PR Newswire)

Six energy companies Friday officially launched Grid Assurance, an independent company providing transmission sparing solutions for critical electric transmission equipment. [...]

Grid Assurance was founded by affiliates of American Electric Power, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Duke Energy, Edison International, Eversource Energy and Great Plains Energy to enhance grid resiliency and give electric transmission owners faster access to long-lead time critical equipment necessary to recover from catastrophic events that could impact the nation's electric grid. [...]

Brokers respond positively to BHSI’s first year in Australia (Insurance Business)

Last week marked a year since Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance received its licence to sell general insurance products in Australia. [...]

According to Donaldson, so far, BHSI has had an overwhelmingly positive response from customers, brokers and (now) new team members their entry to the Australia market. [...]

Applied Underwriters, part of Berkshire Hathaway, is company planning to develop Boys Town farmland (Omaha World-Herald)

A part of Warren Buffett’s empire is behind the planned transformation of a nearly 500-acre tract that includes high-profile Boys Town farmland near 144th Street and West Dodge Road.

Applied Underwriters Inc., acquired a decade ago by Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, is finalizing a contract to buy the undeveloped land from Boys Town and the DeMarco family, Omaha developer Jay Noddle told The World-Herald.

On a piece of the vast farm area, Applied Underwriters intends to build a new hub for its local workforce of between 650 and 700. The rest is to become more offices, shops, housing, restaurants, hotel rooms, public space and more. [...]

This Running Shoe Was Personally Approved by Warren Buffett (Fortune)

The shoe, known as the Berkshire Hathaway Transcend 3, has a limited run with only 4,080 pairs being sold (evenly distributed among the genders). It will be sold at the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder’s Meeting, as well as on Brooks’ website and some national retailers. The Transcend 3 retails for $170, slightly above the prices most premium running shoes command.

The Transcend 3 is part of a broader push by Brooks, which aspires to become a $1 billion brand, to sell shoes designed for big events. [...]

Berkshire Subsidiary Briefs - 3/13/16

This week's post got really long, so I broke it in two. News about Berkshire Hathaway itself was in the prior post, news about subsidiaries is in this one.

Berkshire's Specialty-Insurance Unit Opens Europe Operation (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will begin offering coverage in Europe through a specialty-insurance unit that Chairman Warren Buffett has been building over the past three years.

Tom Bolt was named president of U.K. and Southern Europe operations, starting June 1, and will be based in London, the Berkshire unit said in a statement Thursday. Gregor Koehler will be president of Northern Europe, effective immediately, and work from Dusseldorf, Germany. [...]

Gen Re to close six offices in restructuring (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s General Reinsurance Corp. unit will close six of its smaller offices as part of a reorganization of its direct global property/casualty operations, Stamford, Connecticut-based Gen Re announced Friday. [...]

In addition, Gen Re will reorganize its European treaty underwriting resources into five line-of-business teams to support the entire region, Gen Re said in the announcement. [...]

Buffett’s ‘gem’ in Stamford weathers competition (Stamford Advocate)

Years after disastrous claims results buffeted Stamford-based General Reinsurance following its $21.7 billion sale in 1998 to Berkshire Hathaway, the reinsurance carrier is following through on its CEO’s vow last year to maintain underwriting discipline — despite a depressing effect on premiums that insurance companies reinvest to make money.

Gen Re revenue dropped slightly below $6 billion in 2015, off 4 percent from the previous year and roughly flat from its revenue in 2013. Gen Re’s Stamford-based sibling carrier Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group saw a more precipitous decline in revenues, dropping 29 percent to $7.2 billion; combined, the two entities rank among the top five reinsurance underwriters in the world. [...]

Geronimo Energy Expands Partnership with BHE Renewables (PR Newswire)

Geronimo Energy, LLC ("Geronimo") is pleased to announce the sale of its second portfolio of Minnesota Community Solar Garden developments ("the Portfolio") to BHE Renewables, LLC ("BHE Renewables"), one of the most recognized names in the renewable energy industry, and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

Included in the Portfolio is a total of 66 megawatts ("MW") of solar garden projects spread across 21 locations and 16 Minnesota counties, which will be constructed by the end of 2017.

This acquisition is in addition to a previously purchased portfolio of Geronimo-developed community solar gardens by BHE Renewables, bringing the total combined portfolio size to nearly 100 MW. [...]

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, part of Warren Buffett's empire, buys Cleveland firm (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies led by Warren Buffett, has entered Ohio by buying a Cleveland-based mortgage-banking firm.

Berkadia snapped up RiverCore Capital, a small firm that has arranged financing for major downtown properties including the Flats East Bank project and The 9 complex on East Ninth Street. Neither party would discuss terms of the deal, which closed March 4. [...]

Will Duracell Be the Next Big Company to Leave Connecticut? (Patch)

Duracell, previously owned by Procter & Gamble and based in Bethel, Conn., recently advertised a job opening for an IT Specialist in Chicago, IL. The Simply Hired posting stated that Berkshire Hathaway has "announced its intent to acquire Duracell by the end of 2015 and Duracell will relocate its corporate headquarters to Chicago."

The News Times reported on Wednesday that the battery maker and Berkshire Hathaway not made an official announcement designating Chicago as Duracell’s new headquarters, however, the online job posting says otherwise. [...]

Richline Group a Proud Member of Jewelry Industry Initiative to Combat Wildlife Trafficking (BusinessWire)

As announced by the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, Richline Group—alongside jewelry industry leaders Signet Jewelers and Tiffany & Co.—is celebrating World Wildlife Day by announcing its commitments to support broad jewelry industry efforts in the fight against wildlife trafficking. [...]

Richline Group’s commitments include keeping the elimination of wildlife trafficking part of best practice discussion, and to assist companies that want to update their codes of conduct through the newly introduced IvoryFreeJewelry.com. [...]

The Dairy Queen System Proclaims the End of Winter Five Days Early With Free Cone Day on March 15 (BusinessWire)

In the Dairy Queen® system, a Berkshire Hathaway company, winter is over and spring has officially begun on Tuesday, March 15 with a Free Cone Day benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®. [...]

Throughout the day, participating non-mall Dairy Queen and DQ Grill & Chill® locations across the U.S. will serve fans a FREE small vanilla soft-serve cone with the signature curl on top (limit one per customer while supplies last).

“Last year’s success of Free Cone Day surpassed all expectations and we have our fans to thank for that,” added Westrum. “Together we raised $140,000 in one day for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and we averaged serving more than 1,330 cones per store. We are looking to surpass those numbers this year. We can’t wait.” [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/6/15

Marmon and Wells Fargo buy GE Capital rail businesses (Railway Gazette)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Marmon Holdings has bought ‘substantially all’ of GE Railcar Services’ tank wagons with immediate effect, and expects to complete the acquisition of GE Railcar Repair Services in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The wagons will be managed by Union Tank Car Co and Procor, while the repair facilities will expand the UTLX Repair Services and Procor Repair Services networks.

Buffett Cuts Munich Re Stake After Lamenting Reinsurance Slump (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has cut its stake in Munich Re after lamenting a slump in the reinsurance business.

Berkshire’s holding was lowered to 9.7 percent from about 12 percent, Munich Re said in a statement Tuesday, citing a notification from Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based company. [...]

“It’s a business whose prospects have turned for the worse and there’s not much we can do about it,” Buffett told shareholders at his company’s annual meeting in May.

Berkshire's Abel Targeted by Pilots Union Over Board Secrecy (Bloomberg)

A union representing pilots at Berkshire’s NetJets unit said that it took out an advertisement Monday in Abel’s hometown newspaper, Iowa’s Des Moines Register, identifying the executive as a board member of the business. Two other directors remain unidentified, despite attempts to learn who is overseeing the company, the group said on its website.

Berkshire Hathaway Said to Borrow $275 Million for Texas Wind (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. borrowed $275 million for a 300-megawatt wind farm in Texas that’s supplying power to Austin Energy, according to two people familiar with the deal. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway’s BHE Renewables unit owns the wind farm, which it acquired from Chicago-based Lincoln Clean Energy LLC.

Warren Buffett Gets Into Cybersecurity Insurance (24/7 Wall St)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) unveiled two new types of insurance policies on Tuesday, providing cyber liability and breach response coverage. The company now offers risk management resource policies: the Professional First Network Security & Privacy Policy and the Professional First Professional Liability and Network Security & Privacy Policy. Berkshire Hathaway indicated that the latter also includes customizable errors and omissions liability coverage. [...]

As far as what features these policies include, that would be coverage for third party exposures, breach expense and extortion threat coverage, media liability coverage, business interruption coverage, access to the eRiskHub and more. [...]

Warren Buffett Saved Media General: Don't Dismiss Berkshire In A Fight Over Its Future (Forbes)

In the case of broadcasting conglomerate Media General, Buffett similarly helped revive the company through a creative May 2012 deal where he bought 63 of its newspapers for $142 in cash and provided the Richmond, Va.-based company with a $400 million term loan and a $45 million revolving credit facility. [...] This morning Nexstar Broadcasting disclosed that during Media General’s stock slide, it has been lobbying to buy the company in a merger that would instantly create a powerhouse broadcaster touching nearly 40% of U.S. households. [...] Berkshire, according to the BAML analysis, is a potential friendly investor for Nexstar. However, Berkshire, currently a holder of nearly 4% of Media General’s outstanding stock after a series of stock-funded acquisitions, has historically balked at hostile takeover deals. If Media General’s board decides to continue on its path for Meredith and its standalone strategy, odds are Buffett will support the plan. [...]

Lubrizol opens CPVC resin facility in Thailand (Business Standard)

The Lubrizol Corporation, , a Berkshire Hathaway company, on October 5, 2015 opened a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin manufacturing facility in Rayong, Thailand as part of a joint investment with Sekisui Chemical Company Ltd. The plant opening is the latest in the company's efforts to increase global CPVC capacity as previously announced in 2013. [...]

The Thailand facility, combined with Lubrizol's other recent investments in Louisville (Kentucky) and Dahej (India), as well as its existing CPVC operations around the globe, better positions the organisation to support its future business growth. [...]

MetLife Fighting Systemic Tag Asks Why Buffett Gets Pass (Bloomberg)

MetLife Inc., the insurer fighting the U.S. government’s decision to label it a potential threat to financial stability, wants to know why Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has gotten a pass. [...]

“It is difficult to understand why, say, Berkshire Hathaway with $64 billion in debt and $277 billion of market capitalization should not be considered a systemic risk,” Hele said at the November meeting at the Treasury Department in Washington.

Hele also mentioned Visa Inc., noting that the world’s largest payments network had a market capitalization of $135 billion. MetLife’s market capitalization is about $52 billion.

Conservative think tank attacks NV Energy plan to build new power plant (Las Vegas Sun)

The Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative think tank backed by the Koch brothers, released a report Monday condemning a new, $1 billion natural gas plant proposed by NV Energy.

The institute, based at Suffolk University in Boston, said building the new plant could cost consumers $604 million by 2025 and that a new power plant could cost Nevada more than 1,600 jobs and $18 million of private investment.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute, which opposes shutting down coal-fired power plants in exchange for solar and natural gas generation, hired Beacon Hill to do the study. [...]

NV Energy hopes to phase out its use of coal entirely and have one quarter of its electricity generated from renewable sources in the next decade.

Warren Buffett outlasts Ndamukong Suh in final arm-wrestling duel (WPLG 10)

There was more than just football taking place Monday at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility in Davie.

Inside, WPLG Local 10 owner and billionaire Warren Buffett was challenging Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to an arm-wrestling rematch. [...]

It was a struggle, but in the end Buffett, aka "The Bicep," reigned victorious over Suh, aka "The Dominator," once again.

Berkshire News Briefs - 7/10/15

Warren Buffett Re-Examines Reinsurance (WSJ)

The obscure business of reinsurance has always been one of Warren Buffett’s favorite money makers, but a changing landscape has led his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to adjust its strategy. [...]

Berkshire is pivoting toward parts of the insurance industry it feels look more promising than reinsurance, putting the company in the unfamiliar role of upstart.

“What was a very lucrative business is no longer a very lucrative business going forward,” Ajit Jain, a longtime top lieutenant to Mr. Buffett and a potential candidate to succeed him as chief executive, said in an interview. Berkshire will pursue reinsurance deals when they make sense, he said. “But since the reinsurance business isn’t going to offer as many opportunities for the foreseeable future, we feel like we should go down the food chain.” [...]

The new focus is on commercial insurance through Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, and a new initiative called Berkshire Hathaway Direct, copying GEICO's strategy of using the internet to market insurance directly to small and midsized businesses.

Warren Buffett Will Celebrate July 4th With A New Stock: The Kraft Heinz Company (Forbes)

On Thursday, Heinz’s takeover of Kraft Foods closed. The new company will begin trading on the Nasdaq under ticker ‘KHC’ on Monday, July 6.

Ahead of the deal’s closing, Kraft Heinz announced that 3G executive Bernardo Hees will become CEO of the combined company, while Heinz CFO Paulo Basilio will assume the same role with the merged company. [...]

Kraft Heinz’s board will consist of eleven directors, including Berkshire’s Warren Buffett, Greg Abel and Tracy Britt Cool, and 3G Capital executives Jorge Paulo Lemann and Marcel Telles.

Buffett’s Kraft Heinz Bet Valued at $24 Billion in Debut (Bloomberg)

This makes Kraft Heinz BRK's second largest holding, after Wells Fargo ($26B).

Warren Buffett helped take over H.J. Heinz in 2013 and facilitated its combination with Kraft Foods Group Inc. this year. His prize: a stake of about $24 billion in the new company, which began trading Monday.

Kraft Heinz closed at $72.96 at 4 p.m. in New York trading. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns about 325 million shares, or roughly a quarter of the company, after investing approximately $9.5 billion over the transactions to acquire common stock.

Berkshire Hathaway’s MedPro Group to Acquire PLICO Insurance (BusinessWire)

PLICO, Inc. (PLICO), one of the Southwest’s premier healthcare liability insurers, the Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA), and Berkshire Hathaway’s MedPro Group (MedPro) today announced the signing of definitive agreements for the sale of PLICO to MedPro. The boards of each have approved OSMA’s sale to MedPro of 100% ownership of PLICO in an all-cash transaction, which is subject only to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter. [...]

Based in Oklahoma City, PLICO serves approximately 2200 healthcare providers in Oklahoma; it has annualized gross written premiums of about $30 million and had statutory surplus of over $60 million at year-end 2014. PLICO’s principal operations will remain in Oklahoma City, where it was founded in 1979.

Berkshire Hathaway's Forest River fined for safety reporting violations (Omaha World Herald)

A manufacturer owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to a civil penalty and stricter oversight for not reporting safety information properly, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday.

Forest River Inc., based in Elkhart, Indiana, agreed to a $5 million cash penalty and an additional $30 million in “deferred” penalties that would be levied if it violates a 25-page safety enforcement agreement with the department.

The agreement cited reporting violations involving loose wiring on 726 camper trailers that could cause fires and a lack of fresh air exhaust vents in furnaces on 200 other campers that could cause fires or carbon monoxide exposure. The campers were manufactured last year.

Buffett Scores Cheapest Electricity Rate With Nevada Solar Farms (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Nevada utility has lined up what may be the cheapest electricity in the U.S., and it’s from a solar farm.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s NV Energy agreed to pay 3.87 cents a kilowatt-hour for power from a 100-megawatt project that First Solar Inc. is developing, according to a filing with regulators.

That’s a bargain. Last year the utility was paying 13.77 cents a kilowatt-hour for renewable energy. The rapid decline is a sign that solar energy is becoming a mainstream technology with fewer perceived risks. It’s also related to the 70 percent plunge in the price of panels since 2010, and the fact that the project will be built in Nevada, the third-sunniest state.

International Dairy Queen Opens Newest International Location in the United Arab Emirates (BusinessWire)

The Dairy Queen® system, part of Berkshire Hathaway, has officially re-launched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the opening of a DQ Grill & Chill® restaurant. The UAE is now the 26th country outside the U.S. and Canada with a DQ® presence. [...] Bajco Gulf, LLC is scheduled to develop a minimum of 20 new locations across the territory over the next five years.

Warren Buffett makes $2.84bn donation to Gates Foundation and charities (The Guardian)

Warren Buffett has donated about $2.84bn of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities, as part of the billionaire’s plan to give away nearly all of his wealth.

The 10th annual donation, Buffett’s largest, comprised 20.64m Class “B” shares of Berkshire and increased Buffett’s total contributions to the charities to more than $21.5bn.

Berkshire News Briefs - 7/1/15

Geico Nabs a Film Grand Prix at Cannes -- With a Pre-Roll Ad (Ad Age)

In a move that may spark a welcome sea change in the snooze-worthy arena of pre-roll advertising, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Film Jury awarded one of its top prizes to a mold-breaker in the category: a spot from Geico's "Unskippable" campaign that dares viewers to try and stop watching ads in which "nothing" happens. [...]

Geico topped the Non-Television category. Its pre-roll, "Family," created by The Martin Agency and directed by Park Pictures' Terri Timely, put a hilarious twist on the typically boring genre and features a family sitting at the dinner table with the Geico logo plastered boldly in the middle of the frame. Seconds into the ad, a voice-over announces, "You can't skip this Geico ad because it's already over," and mid-action, the family stops, except for the dog, who proceeds to devour every bit of food on the table. Although nothing much happens beyond that, the ad gets progressively funnier since it's blatantly obvious that the actors in the scene are simply holding their poses as the dog carries on.

Here's the extended version of GEICO's winning ad:

There's more of them in the series, if you play that one to the end and then watch the next suggested videos. GEICO is one of the few companies that I can waste 20 minutes on YouTube just watching their hilarious ads. This one is another current favorite of mine:

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Expands in Australia, Opens New Zealand Office (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is adding an office in New Zealand and expanding its operations in Australia as part of a push to sell more commercial insurance globally.

The specialty-insurance unit is underwriting property and casualty coverage through a new office in Auckland, the company said Monday in a statement. Berkshire also announced it will sell policies to hospitals and medical practices in Australia, led by former American International Group Inc. executive Tony Bainbridge.

With Kraft Heinz merged, now comes the cutting (Chicago Tribune)

(Berkshire Hathaway is the majority shareholder of Heinz.)

Kraft Foods Group shareholders voted Wednesday to approve the company's sale to H.J. Heinz, a deal that brings together two storied packaged-food companies vying for attention as consumers look for healthier, fresher fare. [...]

More than 98 percent of votes cast were in favor of the transaction, representing over 69 percent of all outstanding Kraft shares, Corporate Secretary Kim Rucker told the small group. [...]

The acquisition may lead to heavy job losses as Kraft and Heinz — which have each already trimmed their ranks in recent years — try to cut $1.5 billion in annual costs. [...]

On Monday, the companies announced that many of Kraft's top executives, including Chief Financial Officer James Kehoe, will leave the food maker soon after the deal is completed.

Utilities commission approves TransAlta plant near Wabamun (Edmonton Journal)

TransAlta’s new gas-fired electricity plant near Wabamun got a green light from the Alberta Utilities Commission, which dismissed concerns about increased air pollution into the Edmonton area.

Sundance 7 — an 856-megawatt plant — is a joint venture with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company and could come on stream in 2018, according to the AUC ruling.[...]

TransAlta notes that gas-fired electricity is less polluting than coal-fired plants and the company intends to shut down two smaller coal units in 2019.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is Expected to Report $N/A for QN/A (The Markets Daily)

Remember kids, if you're going to use Mad-Libs computer programs to write your business news, be sure to hire a human editor.

Wall Street analysts expect Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to report earnings per share of $N/A for the current fiscal quarter. This number is based on the average estimate of the sell-side research firms that cover the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. most recently reported earnings per share of $N/A on N/A for the quarter ended N/A.

This number was N/A away from what analysts had expected, a difference of N/A%.

Warren Buffett is now the world’s richest cartoon character (MarketWatch)

[...] Already known as one of the most famous investors in the world, the Oracle of Omaha has become celebrated of late among the grade-school set for his work with the Secret Millionaires Club, an animated program that teaches kids about finance. [...]

Since its relatively low-key inception in 2009, the series has grown to encompass a full slate of “webisodes” and half-hour TV programs (the show has aired on The HUB cable network, now the Discovery Family Channel; a new network partner is expected to be announced soon). Additionally, it has spawned a book, DVDs and “business in a box” kits that help youngsters start their own small-scale enterprises.

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/15/15

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Pays $388 Million for Stake in Australia's IAG (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the investment company run by Warren Buffett, will pay A$500 million ($388 million) for a stake in Insurance Australia Group Ltd. and gain exposure to a fifth of its insurance accounts.

The deal will give the company 20 percent of IAG’s insurance premium payments and make it liable to pay 20 percent of claims over an initial 10-year period, IAG said in a regulatory statement Tuesday. The U.S. group will get a 3.7 percent stake via a placement of new shares, the insurer said.

Perceva offers to buy Berkshire Hathaway’s lingerie brands (Financial Times)

Private equity group Perceva has entered into exclusive talks to buy European underwear brands from Warren Buffett’s group Fruit of the Loom as it attempts to tap into the ever-resilient demand of French women for lingerie.

The group has made an all-equity offer to buy the ladies’ lingerie collections of Variance, Lou, Vanity Fair and BestForm, as well as the swimwear brand Cherry Beach, the group said on Thursday.

Berkshire’s Suncor Bet Endorses Long-Term View for CEO Williams (Bloomberg)

[...] Suncor has the highest gross margins among 18 of the world’s largest oil and natural gas producers, four times higher than Exxon’s, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The margins have risen while those of global and Canadian peers declined, according to the data.

Suncor became Berkshire’s biggest oil holding after the company sold all shares in Exxon last year, while increasing its stake in the Calgary-based producer since the second quarter of 2014.

Warren Buffett Admits He’s Tried to Buy More than Suits in China (WSJ MoneyBeat)

Warren Buffett is big on China. At this year’s annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc., he called the country’s growth “totally miraculous.” [...]

And if Berkshire’s holdings don’t reflect this appetite for China, it’s not for lack of trying on Mr. Buffett’s part. Last year, Berkshire made a bid on a substantial block of shares in a major Chinese company, but the deal didn’t work out, the billionaire investor said in an interview. He declined to provide a name. He’s looked at other deals too, but nothing has borne fruit yet. [...]

BNSF expects crude-by-rail volumes to grow after price rebound (FuelFix)

A 37 percent rebound in oil prices will boost crude-by-rail shipments as drillers complete more wells and extract more crude that U.S. pipelines don’t have the capacity to handle, Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC executive chairman Matthew K. Rose said Monday.

BNSF is preparing for a recovery after shipments of crude and petroleum products by rail fell from a record 17,074 cars the week of Dec. 12 to less than 13,000 in March as crude prices fell by more than half. [...]

Falling oil prices have caused BNSF to reconsider a shift from diesel to liquefied natural gas to fuel locomotives, Rose said. Market changes or carbon pricing are needed to make such a switch economic at current conditions, he said.

North America's BNSF to launch new services along Northern corridor route (Railway Technology)

North America's freight transportation company BNSF Railway is planning to launch expedited and standard intermodal services to and from Chicago and Saint Paul, Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest.

The new schedules, which are set to start in September, are in direct response to market demand and a result of the railway's record capital investments along its Northern Corridor route.

Berkshire Hathaway launches human and social service insurance program (Insurance Business America)

Independent agents working with clients in the human and social service industry may now choose from an array of products and programs that includes Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Group.

The carrier announced this week that it had entered into a partnership and underwriting agreement with Irwin Siegel Agency to provide insurance products for organizations in the social services sector, including community action, paratransit, social services and youth services agencies.

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/8/15

The exec who writes Warren Buffett and gets CEOs ousted (NY Post)

New NetJets Chief Executive Adam Johnson just might be the most effective letter writer in the country.

The 44-year-old executive has twice in six years written letters to Warren Buffett, the owner of the fractional jet-ownership company, suggesting that he can the CEO — and twice gotten the billionaire investor to act, The Post has learned.

Johnson was instrumental in not only toppling Jordan Hansell in recent weeks, but also took a lead role in pressuring Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 2009 to replace NetJets founder Richard Santulli, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told The Post. [...]

Two related stories of layoffs at Shaw Industries factories in Alabama and Georgia. Overall, they say they're adding employees, but the changes in their operations are redistributing where those jobs are.

Shaw Industries, Valley Head's largest employer, to cut 160 jobs this summer (AL.com)

DeKalb County will lose 160 jobs when one of its largest employers begins making cuts this summer at its Valley Head plant.

Shaw Industries, a flooring company based in Dalton, Ga., announced today it is reducing its workforce in northeast Alabama, leaving approximately 195 associates in Valley Head following the reduction. [...]

Scruggs said the company has announced $342 million in investments over the last 18 months to grow its hardwood, resilient, carpet tile, extrusion, distribution and recycling operations in the the U.S.

"At full capacity, these expansions will create almost 1,000 jobs throughout the Southeast," he said. "As we continue to grow, we will continually adjust production to match market demands and and to leverage our investments in more advanced technology."

Shaw announces 267 layoffs at Bainbridge plant (Post Searchlight)

In a letter dated June 4, Shaw Industries Group, Inc. informed the City of Bainbridge of an impending mass layoff at the Shaw Plant 70 in Bainbridge.

“This mass layoff will result in approximately 267 employees being permanently laid off,” the letter addressed to Bainbridge Mayor Edward Reynolds reads. [...]

In a press release, the company said that it is “re-aligning” its production processes leading to a downsize of Bainbridge’s facility. [...]

“Shaw Industries Group, Inc. is re-aligning its production capacity to better service its customers. Over the past months, we have increased capacity at our fiber extrusion facilities in North Georgia and South Carolina to take advantage of technology investments that we have made in these facilities,” according to the release.

Renewable Energy In U.S. Heartland: How States Make It Work (Clean Technica)

Traditional investor-owned electric utilities rely on a guaranteed return on equity set by electricity regulators. Utilities typically earn this return by investing in generation systems such as coal and gas power plants or solar and wind farms (assets) and selling electricity to recover their investment, plus a return. In Iowa, MidAmerican has gone beyond this model to lower retail costs by selling their excess wind power to the local regional transmission organization. This let them increase the total amount of wind power on the grid and balance overall power generation. This has been so effective that MidAmerican plans to invest another $900 million in wind energy in Iowa, bringing the company’s total wind investment to $6.7 billion. The western Energy Imbalance Market, in turn, may let other Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiaries replicate this success. [...]

Five Minutes With…Craig Taylor, head of property, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (Insurance Business)

Craig Taylor, head of property, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance talks about public awareness of the industry, the challenges of the future and the mountains. [...]

Q: What’s the most important thing a broker can do to develop their business?

A: Be in touch with their customers’ industry and identify and respond to the changing environments. The world is changing at a rapid pace, so responding to those changes will create opportunity around added value initiatives whilst still delivering on core competencies. If clients think you’re at the top of the game, they will recommend you to peers.

Winning bid for lunch with Warren Buffett tops $2.3 million (Yahoo/AP)

A Chinese company that develops online games bid more than $2.3 million Friday to win a private lunch with Warren Buffett.

Beijing-based Dalian Zeus Entertainment Co. bid $2,345,678 to win the online auction. The Glide Foundation uses the auction proceeds to help the poor and homeless in San Francisco.

Warren Buffett, Mark Cuban get 'Entourage' movie cameos (CNBC)

The highly anticipated big-screen version of the HBO series "Entourage" hits the big screen this weekend, offering an insider look at the business of Hollywood. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett appears midway through the film, as he crosses paths with Ari Gold. Buffett's cameo is brief, but he does manage to toss off a few memorable one-liners before zipping off in his golf cart across the Warner Brothers studio backlot.

Berkshire News Briefs - 5/25/15

Warren Buffett Is Sending Mixed Messages on Green Energy (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett highlights how his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. utilities make massive investments in renewable energy. Meanwhile, in Nevada, the company is fighting a plan that would encourage more residents to use green power.

Berkshire’s NV Energy, the state’s dominant utility, opposes the proposal to increase a cap on the amount of energy that can be generated with solar panels by residents who sell power back to the grid in a practice known as net metering.

Power investor Warren Buffett backs Israeli power saver tech (Times of Israel)

Bandwidth isn’t the only thing the burgeoning cell network is consuming more of. Already electricity costs account for a large chunk – as much as a third – of operating costs, and that amount will likely get larger as networks get bigger and more devices come on line. [...]

To solve that problem, eVolution Networks has developed a big-data solution that examines the relationship between phones, usage rates, locations, energy costs, and other factors, to activate and deactivate base stations as needed.

And although it sounds like a technical, even prosaic solution, top investor Warren Buffett likes the idea – enough to invest in the company. eVolution announced this week that Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary IES Holding and GE Ventures have invested $22.5 million.

(See also: eVolution's press release)

Geronimo Energy Sells Portfolio Of Wind And Solar Projects To BHE Renewables (North American Wind Power)

Geronimo Energy has sold a portfolio of wind and solar energy projects to BHE Renewables, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

The sale includes the Grande Prairie Wind Farm, located in Holt County, Neb.; the Walnut Ridge Wind Farm in Bureau County, Ill.; and a portfolio of Minnesota solar project developments. The Grand Prairie and Walnut Ridge acquisitions were previously announced by BHE Renewables.

Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Stakes in Charter Communications, Viacom (WSJ Moneybeat)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reduced its stake in several media-company holdings–including Charter Communications Inc., Viacom Inc. and Liberty Global PLC–in the first quarter. [...] Berkshire increased its stake in 21st Century Fox by 1.48 million shares. [...] Berkshire sold 3.28 million shares in National Oilwell Varco, in its latest move away from energy companies that have been hurt by the collapse in oil prices. [...] Additionally, in the most recent quarter, Berkshire reduced its stake in Bank of New York Mellon Corp., selling off 1.3 million shares.

As always, Dataroma has an excellent chart of Berkshire Hathaway's holdings, highlighting the most recent changes.

Berkshire CEOs pull back the curtain on Buffett and business (Fort Worth Business Press)

On Monday, May 18, an executive panel featuring the CEOs of four Fort Worth-based Berkshire Hathaway companies – Dennis Knautz of Acme Brick, Carl Ice of BNSF, Randy Watson of Justin Brands and Paul Andrews of TTI – sat with moderator Matt Rose, executive chairman of BNSF, and discussed working with Buffett. The event, titled Breakfast with the Berkshires, was presented by Leadership Fort Worth at the Fort Worth Club. [...]

Aside from BNSF, Acme, Justin and TTI, Berkshire Hathaway continues to have a big interest in North Texas. In October, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Dallas-based Van Tuyl Group, which has several Fort Worth area dealers and is the largest privately owned U.S. auto dealership group. Several other Berkshire Hathaway companies either have large operations here or are subsidiaries of other Berkshire companies. NetJets operates Dallas Jet Charter, and Mouser Electronics in Mansfield is a subsidiary of TTI. Speaking just prior to the panel discussion, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said Berkshire brands contribute thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the region.

Berkshire Hathaway's Sustainable Competitive Advantage (Fool)

Another edge that Berkshire enjoys is its diversification. Its operations and investments span many industries, such as insurance, railroads, energy, home building, jewelry, furniture, paint, private jets, candy, recreational vehicles, ice cream, chemicals, newspapers, underwear, tools, food-service equipment, and car dealerships, among others. When one sector is in a slump, others may not be, and can provide offsetting effects. That's especially true because some of his businesses are in defensive and not very cyclical industries: When the economy is stalled or slumping, people will still use energy and buy insurance and underwear.

Time to Take Profit in Berkshire Hathaway Stock? (Fool)

Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B), has been rewarding shareholders handsomely for many decades. (Indeed, the company just celebrated its 50th anniversary, with 40,000-plus shareholders gathering in Omaha for the company's annual meeting.) Over the past 30 years, its stock has grown by an annual average of 17.3%, and over the past decade, it has returned a market-trouncing 10.2%.

After all that growth, is it time to take profit in Berkshire Hathaway stock? Should you consider selling?

Warren Buffett can’t seem to get enough of Wells Fargo (San Francisco Business Times)

Warren Buffett appears to have embraced the adage that you can never get enough of a good thing.

At least that might explain why he recently plowed more money into some of his largest holdings, including some $350 million into Wells Fargo, which he has described as his favorite bank. He was picking up shares of the San Francisco-based bank even as the stock traded at all-time highs this year. Perhaps Buffett sees Wells fitting into his strategy of buying wonderful companies at a “fair price.”

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Launches Crime Protection with Innovative Impersonation Endorsement in Canada (Marketwatch)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that it is introducing the Crime Protection Policy and the Executive Impersonation Coverage endorsement for large public and private companies in Canada.

"Designed by BHSI executives with more than three decades in the fidelity and crime insurance market, our Crime Protection Policy makes it easy for brokers and customers in Canada to secure broad coverage and address the rising risk of fraud losses," said Michael Densham, Vice President, Executive and Professional Lines, Canada, BHSI.

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/29/15

Berkshire Hathaway Inc BNSF Retakes Agricultural Transport Market Share From Union Pacific Corporation (Bidness Etc)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.-owned Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNSF) railway reported yesterday that it has taken back its market share of grain and agricultural goods. The company lost its share last year as it failed to meet the customer demand and because its competitor, Union Pacific Corporation, had taken the market share lost by BNSF, and has been providing services since then. [...]

Union Pacific managed to increase its carload by 6.7% during last year, benefiting from the market share loss of BNSF. As BNSF is increasing its market share in agricultural goods, Union Pacific will ultimately lose some of its cargo load and market share. BNSF managed to increase its grain carload by 27% in the first quarter of the current year, hitting Union Pacific carload, which declined 3%. BNSF aims at further increasing its market share of agricultural product cargo, which contributed to 19% of the company’s total revenues last year.

Berkshire insurance unit has unique birthday celebrations (Boston Globe)

Most financial companies don’t celebrate their birthday with a slide show and a song written for the occasion. But Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance isn’t a typical financial company.

The company already employs more than 550 people, including nearly 75 at its downtown Boston headquarters, even though the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary will be only two years old on April 29. It’s aiming to exceed $1 billion in premiums this year. [...]

The company now has nine offices in the United States and operates in five other countries. It has made at least one big acquisition, the purchase in 2014 of travel assistance firms MyAssist and Insure America, so far. Eastwood said he hopes to expand into the United Kingdom and continental Europe later this year.

MiTek Acquires BuilderMT (BusinessWire)

MiTek Industries, Inc. (“MiTek”), a diversified, global business supplying a wide range of engineered products; proprietary business management and design software; and automated equipment sold into the broad construction and industrial end markets announced today that it has acquired BuilderMT, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. BuilderMT is a leader in providing industry-specific workflow process management software to the residential home building market, serving both single family and multi-family builders.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company Expands into Australia (BusinessWire)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) today announced that it has received its insurance license to provide all lines of General Business in Australia, established operations in Sydney, and named Chris Colahan as President of its Australasia Region. [...]

Beginning immediately, BHSI will be providing property, casualty, financial lines and marine cargo insurance in Australia.

Angie's List Announces Exclusive Relationship with Shaw Industries (BusinessWire)

Angie’s List today announced an exclusive relationship with Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, that will provide Angie’s List members with exclusive product offers from Shaw. [...]

Brady added that the agreement with Shaw comes on the heels of a similar agreement Angie’s List announced last month with Benjamin Moore & Company. Both Shaw and Benjamin Moore are Berkshire Hathaway companies.

Under the agreement, Shaw will provide discounts to service providers on Angie’s List who buy Shaw flooring for installation to Angie’s List members. In addition, members will be able to purchase pre-packaged offers from Angie’s List’s online marketplace that include Shaw flooring and installation.

3 Ways Berkshire Hathaway Will Look Different 10 Years From Now (Fool)

Berkshire Hathaway is Mr. Buffett's life work and he has directly contributed an incalculable amount of value to the firm through his capital allocation choices. However, his retirement or death wouldn't be catastrophic -- contrary to what some investors appear to believe. As one should reasonably expect, given the care and effort with which he has built Berkshire, Buffett has been equally deliberate in putting in place the people and the structures necessary to ensure that the business will continue to thrive without him.

CORT Partners with FamilyAid Boston to Address Homelessness (Furniture World)

CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway Company and the nation’s leading provider of transition services, has partnered with FamilyAid Boston to provide supportive housing solutions for approximately 2,500 homeless parents and children in Boston, Massachusetts, each year. More specifically, CORT has provided furniture solutions for FamilyAid Boston’s apartment-based shelter units in an effort to provide families with private, neighborhood-based shelter while they work to regain their stability and return to permanent housing. [...]

Over the past eight years, CORT has worked with FamilyAid Boston to provide furniture and accessories for roughly 1,000 shelter housing units. CORT furniture solutions include sofas, beddings, dressers and artwork. In addition, CORT has donated furniture accessories such as lamps and artwork, helping turn the apartment units into homes.