Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett, agreed Wednesday to buy a stake in the troubled Canadian mortgage lender Home Capital Group in a $1.8 billion rescue plan.
Berkshire will pay $300.7 million for a 38.4% stake of the Toronto-based company and extend a $1.5 billion line of credit. [...]
In recent years, Home Capital has repeatedly missed its financial guidance amid weaker loan volumes and declining income. In March, the company also revealed that several executives and directors have received enforcement notices from the Ontario Securities Commission related to its disclosure practices and stock trades. [...]
Store Capital says Berkshire Hathaway invested $377 million in the company, which represents a 9.8 percent stake in the real estate investment trust.
Berkshire's investment makes the company the third largest holder in Store Capital, after Vanguard Group and Fidelity Management & Research, according to FactSet. [...]
Store Capital has investments in over 1,750 properties in 48 states, according to the company. AMC Entertainment, Applebee's and Ashley Furniture are among its 10 biggest customers, according to an investor presentation. [...]
In notices of decisions made public last week, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles recommended revoking the licenses of 30 of Berkshire Hathaway’s auto dealers in Texas and fining them a total of $30,000 because the Omaha-based parent company also owns Forest River, a recreational vehicle manufacturer.
Texas law prohibits direct or indirect ownership of vehicle dealers by vehicle manufacturers, the notices said. The law is intended to protect independent auto dealers from unfair competition by manufacturer-owned dealerships.
The department also recommended a $1,000 fine and revoking the manufacturing license of Forest River, which has a cargo trailer manufacturing facility in Waco, Texas. [...]
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. units have settled with California regulators over alleged "bait and switch" marketing tactics for workers compensation coverage.
According to a statement Thursday by the California Department of Insurance, the insurers have agreed to lower rates for certain coverages and make other changes to coverage terms.
The settlement applies to policies sold by Berkshire units California Insurance Co. and Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Co.
According to the statement, the insurers "were selling a workers compensation product with illegal side agreements that modified the obligations of the parties under the policy." [...]
Berkshire Hathaway is one of the world's most successful companies. Over the last 52 years -- during which Warren Buffett has been chairman and CEO -- it compounded its investors' wealth at a remarkable rate, turning an original $1,000 investment into nearly $20 million for its earliest investors.
The three charts below explain how Berkshire grew to become as large as it is today, and why the future is likely to yield lower returns for the company's investors going forward. [...]
In many ways, Warren Buffett-led conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway has had a rather uneventful 2017. The company hasn't announced any major acquisitions, and other than a few major moves in the stock portfolio, it hasn't really been in the headlines much.
Yet the few major moves Berkshire has made should be good for the company's future. Here's a quick recap of three moves the company has made, why they should be positive long-term catalysts, and the lessons you can learn from each. [...]
A bidder pledged $2.68 million to a San Francisco charity in exchange for a lunch date with billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
The winner of the online auction that concluded Friday on eBay Inc.’s website chose to remain anonymous. The final price fell short of last year’s $3.46 million winning pledge, which tied the previous record.
As in years past, the winner gets to bring seven friends to dine with Buffett, 86, at New York’s Smith & Wollensky steakhouse. Proceeds benefit Glide, a San Francisco charity that serves meals to the homeless, hosts support groups through its women’s center for abuse victims and provides treatment for drug addiction. [...]
The billionaire took out a fine-print ad in the New York Daily News to say he’s seeking permission from the Federal Reserve to hold as much as 25 percent of the credit-card issuer’s shares. The notice appeared alongside listings for a Brooklyn co-op, a $2,500 Honda Accord and a liquor license application, plus a quarter-page ad for a strip joint.
Of course, Buffett was just obeying the law. Federal regulations require that shareholders seeking to boost their stakes in banks above certain thresholds publish announcements in “a newspaper of general circulation” in the community where the financial institution is based. (AmEx has its headquarters in lower Manhattan.) Still, in an era when so much information flows to investors through online feeds, the back pages of a metro can feel like a place to bury rather than reveal news. [...]
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a stake in Germany’s Lanxess AG on May 19, worth roughly $179.85 million on the date of filing, a small fraction of his $96.5 billion cash hoard. [...]
Lanxess’ chemicals are used in an array of everyday and industrial products, such as biodiesel, spare wheels, paint pigments, leather manufacturing, white sugar, red wines and tires. Through a partnership with Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco, it also produces synthetic rubber.
The company has a 6.2 billion euro market cap, with revenue exceeding $7.6 billion in 2016, though revenue had been in decline for four straight years. On April 21, Lanxess completed the acquisition of U.S. company Chemtura, which produced 1.5 billion euro in annual sales, to stabilize the company, increase profitability and expand its footprint in the growth market of North America. [...]
General Re, which is a part of business guru Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, has been given the final approval, called R3 from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.
In a report, ieBusiness said that this is Berkshire’s second attempt to capture the Indian market. Berkshire’s initial venture was an online distribution that closed a couple of years after it launched in 2013.
Gen Re is different in that it will "deliver underwriting and risk management expertise locally rather than cross-border. It will facilitate an optimal business model," according to the report.
Gen Re’s area of interest is primarily on the life and health sector. It plans to expand in this segment but will also be looking to grow its presence in the property/ casualty reinsurance market in India which is a huge business opportunity. [...]
For much of the time Buffett has been at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway, he has managed the company's stock portfolio all by himself. However, that has changed in recent years with the hiring of two investment managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who were hired in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Both men are hedge fund veterans with impressive track records. For example, Weschler's fund delivered 1,236% in gains in just 11 years before he closed it -- roughly 9 times the gain of Buffett's stock portfolio during the same time frame. [...]
The billionaire’s holding company – Berkshire Hathaway Inc. – could be liable for civil fines in the range of $350,000 a day if an ongoing investigation by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles determines it to be in violation of Texas law prohibiting the owner of an automobile manufacturer from also owning automobile dealerships in the state.
Berkshire Hathaway owns Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, which is based in Irving and operates 35 new-car dealerships in Texas, and it also owns Forest River Inc., an Indiana-based manufacturer of recreational vehicles. Owning both businesses potentially puts Berkshire Hathaway in violation of the Texas occupations code preventing ownership of a motor vehicle manufacturer and ownership of dealerships under a single corporate umbrella, even if the vehicles aren’t of the same type. [...]
While working in New York City, 20-something-year-old Buffett adopted Benjamin Graham’s practice of spotting companies that were slightly undervalued, such as having more in the bank account than they were worth on the stock market.
Anything with a bit of value that a smart investor could grab. In cigar terms, a mostly used butt ignored by others but with a few risk-free puffs left.
Looking beyond the unsavory image of smoking a used stogie (“The stub might be ugly and soggy,” Buffett once wrote), investors can embrace the idea of cigar butts as a lesson in recognizing value that others miss. Buffett used that ability to build up his personal investments in the 1950s before returning to Omaha and forming the partnerships that led to Berkshire. [...]
‘90s trends are in. Fashion, jewelry, shoes, toys and even hairstyles popular during that decade are part of a nostalgic revival taking place in 2017.
The Dairy Queen® system has now added treats to that list. The treat category leader, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is bringing back two popular fan favorites treats with Treatzza Pizza® on May 22 and Misty Slush® on June 26.
"There is an obvious resurgence in everything '90s and both Treatzza Pizza and Misty Slush were fan favorites from that era," said Barry Westrum, Executive Vice President of Marketing for American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ). "Those two treats were loved by fans from day one. They asked us to bring them back and we delivered." [...]
An auction for well-heeled fans of Warren Buffett to eat lunch with the billionaire in support of a San Francisco charity that helps the homeless and impoverished got off to a fast start, with bidding quickly hitting seven figures.
The top bid was $1 million as of 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on Monday, and had been made within two minutes of the auction's Sunday night launch.
Bids often surge near the end of the eBay auction, which concludes on Friday at 10:30 p.m. EDT (230 GMT Saturday).
Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has raised $23.6 million in 17 years of auctions for Glide. [...]
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is cutting its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. to less than 10 percent after the Federal Reserve told the billionaire’s company that remaining above that threshold would limit its ability to do business with the bank.
Berkshire sold 7.13 million shares of Wells Fargo this week and plans to divest an additional 1.87 million in the near future, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Buffett’s company oversaw about 500 million shares as of Dec. 31, valued at more than $27 billion at the time, according to Berkshire’s annual report. [...]
Wells Fargo & Co's largest investor, Warren Buffett, has likely already voted his shares to support the bank's recommendations at its contentious annual shareholder meeting next week, a representative told Reuters on Wednesday, which include reinstating most of the board's directors. [...]
Now the board, whose members include new CEO Tim Sloan, is facing opposition in the shareholder vote next week after proxy advisers recommended rejecting many of them.
Buffett's assistant, Debbie Bosanek, told Reuters that Buffett supports management and the board, and that he has likely voted shares held by him and Berkshire to reflect that view. [...]
The latest effort by Tesla Inc. to sell the electric cars that it makes directly to Texas consumers appears to have stalled in the Legislature, even as a bid by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to win an exception to the strict regulations preventing automobile manufacturers from also owning dealerships is racing forward.
Senate Bill 2279 — filed Tuesday by state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills — would allow manufacturers to own dealerships “so long as the vehicles they sell or service are not the same type of motor vehicle that they manufacturer or distribute.” It has been scheduled for a Thursday Senate committee hearing.
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, which has 85 dealerships in 10 states and is based in Irving, needs the exception to avoid violating existing Texas law because its parent company owns recreational-vehicle maker Forest River Inc., as well as a large stake in Chinese electric-car maker BYD Co. [...]
Munger on Apple and airlines during the 2017 Daily Journal Corp. meeting: [...]
"Now it may work out to be a good idea for the same reason that our railroad business turned out to be a good idea, but there’s some chance that it might not. He’s changed, and I think he’s changed when he buys his airlines, and he’s changed when he buys Apple. Think of the hooting we’ve done over the years about high tech – we just don’t understand it. It’s not in our circle of competency. The worst business in the world is airlines. What do we appear in the press with? Apple and a bunch of airlines. I don’t think we’ve gone crazy; I think the answer is we’re adapting reasonably to a business that has gotten very much more difficult. I don’t think we have a cinch in either of those positions. I think we have the odds a little bit in our favor. And if that’s the best advantage we can get, we’ll just have to live on the advantage we can get. I used to say you have to marry the best person that will have you. And I’m afraid that’s a rule of life and you have to get by in life with the best advantage you can get. And things have gotten so difficult in the investment world that we have to be satisfied with the type of advantage that we didn’t used to get. On the other hand, the thing that caused it to be so difficult was we got so enormously rich. That’s not a bad trade off." [...]
The billionaire investors Warren Buffett and Jorge Paulo Lemann have teamed up to engineer some of the biggest and boldest mergers and acquisitions in recent years, but they have rarely appeared in public together.
On Saturday night, however, the two appeared on a stage in Cambridge, Mass., to be interviewed by the dean of the Harvard Business School, Nitin Nohria. [...]
Mr. Lemann and Mr. Buffett got to know each other when both were on the board of Gillette. Around that time, Mr. Lemann was selling Banco de Investimentos Garantia, an investment bank of which he was a founder in Brazil. [...]
But it was not until 2013 that they first did a deal together. Then, Mr. Lemann’s 3G Capital and Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway teamed up to acquire H.J. Heinz for $23 billion. Two years later, 3G Capital, again together with Mr. Buffett, merged Heinz with Kraft Foods. [...]
kathy ireland® Worldwide (kiWW®) has inked an agreement to design a wide-ranging collection of branded art and wall décor for the home with Larson-Juhl and The Buffalo Works. The Buffalo Works will work with kiWW® to curate, develop and market the art program, partnering with Larson-Juhl as the exclusive supplier for the branded program. [...]
[Kathy Ireland, kiWW's Chair, CEO and Chief Designer:] "Larson-Juhl is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway business family. We began our kathy ireland® Home collection with a Berkshire Hathaway flooring company. Our first retail client was Irv Blumkin and Nebraska Furniture Mart, still clients and dear friends, all these years later. To join Larson-Juhl and The Buffalo Works means we are collaborating with some of the Berkshire Hathaway best! We will celebrate together at the Annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting where our new artwork will be on display," she adds. [...]
Established more than a century ago, Larson-Juhl is the global leader in custom picture frame design, manufacturing and distribution. The company also provides high quality conservation products to museums, galleries, and libraries and serves the framing market with a full range of solutions, from art printing and volume framing to wall decor. A Berkshire Hathaway company headquartered in Norcross, GA, Larson-Juhl operates 54 facilities in 17 countries around the world. [...]
Despite Buffett's love of dividends, Berkshire Hathaway has never paid one to its shareholders, nor does Buffett plan to start implementing a dividend anytime soon. This may seem like a big contradiction -- as Buffett himself said in his 2012 letter to Berkshire shareholders, "It puzzles them [some of Berkshire's shareholders] that we relish the dividends we receive from most of the stocks Berkshire owns, but pay out nothing ourselves." However, Buffett's reasoning makes perfect sense. [...]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
At one time, Berkshire made linings for men’s suits. Now, its various 100%-owned subsidiaries make cowboy boots, floor enamel and Ginsu knives; sell ear-piercing tools, diamond rings and encyclopedias; rent topiaries, candelabras and refrigerated trailers; provide insulated bags for pizza-delivery men, uniforms for police officers and shoulder pads for football players… and much, much, much more.
If Berkshire’s wholly-owned companies were independent, nine of them would be among the Fortune 500.
Warren Buffett was forced to defend his association with 3G Capital from the beginning of the ritual Q&A session at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting last Saturday, as a shareholder said that "he cannot make a moral case" for the Brazilian investment firm's aggressive cost-cutting programs at acquired companies. Given that Berkshire Hathaway's partnership with 3G Capital is more likely to expand than shrink over the next decade, Berkshire shareholders ought to understand its nature. In fact, 3G's methods are not inconsistent with Mr. Buffett's approach to business, which is, well, all business.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. is extending its operating improvement plans as the railroad seeks to recover from “significant service-related challenges” that the carrier and its customers have struggled with over the past year.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the railroad’s parent, said BNSF has seen its network operate more smoothly lately as it has boosted capacity by expanding lines, adding locomotives and bringing in new hires. “We plan to continue our capital expansion and operational improvement initiatives in 2015 in order to meet customer demand and improve and maintain service levels,” the Berkshire said in its first-quarter 10-Q filing late Friday.
BNSF Railway Co., owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will be among the first companies to operate a commercial drone over hundreds of miles in a U.S. research program to test the safety of pilot-less flights.
A camera-equipped drone will fly as far as 400 miles (640 kilometers) along tracks in rural areas to inspect rails, BNSF said. The Federal Aviation Administration also chose CNN and Precision Hawk USA Inc. to make flights beyond the visual line of sight of an operator in unpopulated areas, a practice that is currently banned.
The use of drones “increases the frequency of inspection. We have some very remote areas,” Gary Grissum, BNSF’s assistant vice president of telecommunications, said in an interview. “We’re looking to be able to detect very small defaults in the rail.”
A tiny central North Dakota town has been evacuated after the derailment of an oil train.
The incident displaced residents of Heimdal, sheriff's officials told local media. The accident involved a BNSF Railway train with 109 cars, five of which were burning. Six to seven cars derailed and the cause of the event is unknown, according to officials.
Investor Warren Buffett again defended Berkshire Hathaway's manufactured home unit Monday and praised some of his company's biggest investments.
Buffett discussed Clayton Homes' lending practices, interest rates, Berkshire's investments and other topics during an interview on CNBC Monday. Over the weekend, he answered questions in front of more than 40,000 people at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting.[...]
A subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will announce Thursday that it plans to build the Grande Prairie Wind Farm, which would be Nebraska’s largest wind-powered electric generating plant and increase the state’s wind energy capacity by nearly 50 percent.
BHE Renewables, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, purchased Grande Prairie from Geronimo Energy of Edina, Minnesota, which had acquired it from a Chicago developer in 2013. The other companies arranged leases, got permits and completed other development steps.
Construction is to start this summer on the 400-megawatt project, located about 12 miles northeast of O’Neill, and be completed in 2016, adding to the state’s existing 810-megawatt wind energy capacity.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy disclosed that it recently acquired a site for solar generation development in MISO’s central region. The “site” consists of 74 individual “locations” not to exceed 1 MW each, according to the company’s quarterly property acquisition report. [...]
The company did not disclose exactly where the site is located. The company is not ready to make an announcement on the project, spokesman David Caris said. MISO is a new locale for the company’s solar portfolio. [...]
Berkshire Hathaway’s planned solar expansion in MISO’s coal-dependent central region — which includes Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Illinois — appears designed to take advantage of increased demand for renewables as a result of federal environmental regulations.
Berkshire Hathaway utility PacifiCorp will procure renewable generation from a 7MW solar installation in Oregon by the end of 2015. [...]
PacifiCorp expects that the plant will supply power to about 1,000 residents in the town of Bly, Oregon. The company serves 1.8mn customers across Utah, Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho and parts of northern California.
The 7MW plant will be built on a former 40-acre lumber mill site, with 20,000 solar panels, and will become PacifiCorp's largest operational solar facility in Oregon.
Forest River will break ground this week on a new manufacturing facility in Michigan.
The Elkhart-based company announced plans in January to build three 100,000-square-foot facilities in White Pigeon and create 396 jobs in the next three years. [...]
Forest River is investing more than $7 million in the project and is receiving substantial incentives from state and local governments.
Nebraska Furniture Mart executives told hundreds of local dignitaries, employees and others attending a ribbon-cutting Thursday that the store is finally ready to take on the throngs of shoppers it was built for. [...]
Blumkin said the Omaha-based retailer, a unit of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, had several locations to choose from, but decided on the spot along the Sam Rayburn Tollway and Plano Parkway partly because of the cooperation from local entities. It has its own exit from the tollway, for example.
John Noel, president of Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) and founder of Travel Guard International, MyAssist and Insure America, today is moving to an executive advisory role after being diagnosed with early stages of Lewy Body Disease.
He will be succeeded as president by Dean Sivley, who had served as president of Travel Guard–Americas and was chief e-business officer of Travel Guard’s global operations after Noel left that company in 2009, three years after selling it to AIG. Sivley most recently served as CEO of the car service GroundLink.
Dairy Queen, according to a letter written by one of its executives that was released by an advocacy group, is pulling soft drinks from its kids menu. The letter, which is dated May 11, says the company along with its franchisees had voted to make the switch. The ice cream chain said the change would take place as soon as September 1 because that’s how long it would take the company to change its restaurant menu boards. After that, only water and milk will be the only beverages on the kid’s menu at Dairy Queen restaurants.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has once again agreed to have lunch with the winner of an upcoming auction to benefit a San Francisco charity.
The 16th annual auction to benefit Glide, which provides food and services to the poor and homeless, will be held on eBay from May 31 to June 5, the charity said.
Past auctions have raised about $17.8m, including a record $3,456,789 from an anonymous bidder in 2012. Last year's winner, Andy Chua of Singapore, bid $2,166,766.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is famous for his frugality, living in the same Omaha home he purchased in 1958 for $31,500, yet his neighbors across the street have a slightly higher, and slightly tongue-in-cheek, asking price in mind for their five-bedroom house.
Homeowner Phil Huston says that though the property has been recently valued at $866,000, he and his wife are asking for 10 Class A shares of the company their famed neighbor has helmed for half a century, Berkshire Hathaway. While at first glance, this may not seem like a lot, Warren Buffett has famously never split Berkshire Hathaway’s stock, as Yahoo Homes points out. This means that each individual share of the conglomerate currently sells for $215,800 as of closing Friday, making the asking price of Huston’s home $2.158 million.
Warren Buffett is smiling about Coke again, and singing about it.
The billionaire investor made a special guest appearance at Coca-Cola’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. Buffett was introduced with a video of him singing, ukulele in hand, “I’d like to Teach the World to Sing” from Coke’s classic hilltop commercials.
Kraft Foods Group stock surged Wednesday after the company announced a merger deal with H.J. Heinz financed in part by Warren Buffett. Buffett told CNBC that his Berkshire Hathaway company will have $9.5 billion worth of common stock in the newly merged H.J. Heinz-Kraft Foods company. It will be headed by Heinz Chief Executive Bernardo Hees. [...] Under the terms of the deal, Heinz will return to the public market with a 51 percent ownership of Kraft. Current holders of Kraft stock will own 49 percent of the company.
The deal to create the third-largest food and beverage company in the North America—announced hours before Buffett's interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box"—was in the works for about four weeks, the billionaire investor said. "It moved along quite promptly," he said, but stressed he's in it for the long haul. [...] "The short term doesn't make much difference to us, because we will be in this stock forever," Buffett said. "This is a business with us. It's not really a stock. It's a company that we'll own 26 and a fraction percent of."
Warren E. Buffett has made a habit of criticizing ruthless Wall Street bankers and rapacious private equity firms over the years. As recently as last month, he railed against both in his annual letter to his shareholders at Berkshire Hathaway. Yet for Mr. Buffett, a genteel billionaire who has managed to put a friendly face on big business, one private equity firm stands apart from the rest. 3G Capital, the Brazilian private equity firm cofounded by the billionaire financier Jorge Paulo Lemann, has in recent years emerged as Mr. Buffett’s preferred business partner in striking multibilliondollar deals.
Zypora Kupferberg started her own investment business after leaving a larger company because she wanted to be “closer to the customer.” Now the 48-year-old is “Warren Buffett’s German scout,” scanning the European business landscape for businesses Buffett would buy [...] “She knows what we are looking for and we hope we will hear more from her,” Buffett told Handelsblatt.
Warren Buffett has a sizable stake in Bank of America, even if it's hidden from plain view. Berkshire Hathaway owns warrants that entitle it to purchase 700 million Bank of America shares for $7.14 each at any time before 2021. [...] By holding the warrants, Buffett is reducing his downside risk. If he exercised the warrants, Berkshire Hathaway would have $5 billion in additional capital at risk in Bank of America in exchange for only $140 million in incremental dividend income each year. Exercising the warrants gives Berkshire very little upside for a tremendous amount of additional downside.
After promises that shelves would begin to be stocked at Nebraska Furniture Mart's new North Texas store in The Colony, work began Wednesday on filling the 560,000-square-foot retail showroom with appliances, furniture and electronics. The retail showroom will anchor the $1.5 billion, 433-acre Grandscape development and is part of the larger 1.9 million-square-foot Nebraska Furniture Mart, which includes a distribution center.
Berkshire Hathaway-owned Justin Brands Inc. will lay off 68 employees and close an entire distribution facility in Forth Worth. [...] However, it may not be the end of the road for the affected workers. Justin Brands plans to turn over its distribution operations to logistics company GENCO, and the employees will have a chance to apply for jobs there. "Justin is just getting out of the distribution business because it's not our core competency," Lisa Albert, Justin Brands' senior communications manager, told the Dallas Business Journal.
(Commentary on this lawsuit, which was originally mentioned in the 3/16 News Briefs post.)
The reality is, this is about both profits and safety, and it looks like both the railways and petrochemical companies are trying to establish the balance of responsibility. And while BNSF's parent stands to benefit from the surcharge and the potential for more updated tanker cars being bought by refiners, that doesn't mean it's not still beneficial to public safety. At the same time, AFPM has an obligation to its members to challenge this surcharge if it feels it is illegal or unfair, and frankly, whether their motivation is the regulatory precedent, or purely the bottom line, really doesn't matter.
BNSF Railway Co., the railroad owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., posted a 4.5 percent drop in petroleum products in the last four weeks after a gain of 12.4 percent last year. BNSF’s network runs through North Dakota, making it the largest hauler of Bakken oil production. [...] Demand for Bakken crude from U.S. East Coast refineries may decline as the price premium for imported Brent crude narrows. It costs about $2 to $3 a barrel to ship Brent by boat while hauling Bakken crude by train adds as much as $14 a barrel [...]
(Commentary on the acquisition of Van Tuyl Automotive. Terrible headline.)
Operating dealers at scale -- in big groups -- has long been a way for local entrepreneurs to turn modest income streams into fortunes. Bigger dealer groups can get more operating efficiencies around everything from financing to employee benefits, lowering costs and helping to boost those thin margins. Buffett clearly sees this business as one where Berkshire's scale and entrepreneurial values can bring more of those kinds of efficiencies. He also sees it as a business likely to endure for many decades.
With the sounds of drilling, hammering and sawing in the background, the first trailer has rolled out of Forest River’s new Hemet manufacturing plant. [...] Forest River has hired 80 employes, with hopes to more than double that. [...] Forest River Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, bought the Hemet plant in December to open its 67th assembly plant in the nation. [...] Miller said Forest River spent more than $1 million to retrofit the two buildings on the 18-acre site [...]
I don't think it's a good idea to invest too much of your retirement savings into Berkshire. As a rule, it's not wise to concentrate more than 10% or so of your stock holdings in the shares of any single company. Assuming you have an otherwise well-diversified portfolio, I suppose you could make a case for pushing that percentage to 20% or so for a unique company like Berkshire Hathaway. But I wouldn't go beyond that.
With a net worth of about $71 billion, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett is undeniably the most successful investor in history. People often ask him for advice, and he is never short of blunt and witty tidbits. But with all of these pieces of investment advice floating around, many of them without additional context, it can be easy for someone to misconstrue his words. So before you rush out and start taking the Oracle of Omaha’s comments to heart, here is a list of his most common misunderstood pieces of advice.
Following Warren Buffett's investment advice may be smart but nutritionists say that eating too many of the "junk-food" products made by companies he has invested in isn't quite as wise. His move on Wednesday to inject Velveeta cheese, Jell-O, Lunchables, Oscar Mayer wieners, and Kool-Aid into his portfolio, stuffs an already amply supplied larder. [...] He told Fortune magazine last month that he's talked to the management of Utz, the Pennsylvania-based snack maker, about potentially buying the company. And with Kraft now under his belt, Buffett could decide to literally drink his own Kool-Aid and push ahead with more such acquisitions.
Some fortunate Berkshire Hathaway investors at this year's annual meeting will get the chance to sleep in the same bedroom Warren Buffett did as a boy. The home-sharing service Airbnb is offering a free three-night stay at the Omaha home around the May 2 meeting as a way to promote its services. Shareholders who want to stay at the three-bedroom house must submit short essays and prove they own Berkshire stock.
NetJets Inc, the private jet-sharing company owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , has defeated a U.S. Internal Revenue Service lawsuit attempting to recoup more than $500 million of unpaid taxes, penalties and interest. [...] The dispute arose from a series of IRS and federal court decisions over nearly two decades, on when and how Columbus-based NetJets should pay federal excise taxes.
Astute readers may recall a similar story about Forest River also opening a new plant in California two weeks ago. The RV business seems to be booming.
Forest River Manufacturing LLC will spend $7 million to build its first recreational vehicle production site in Michigan over the next three years. The expansion into Michigan, from the company's headquarters in Elkhart, Ind., is expected to mean 396 new jobs over the next five years. [...] According to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, which announced the project as one of two expansions just approved for Michigan Strategic Fund grants, Forest River is launching new products and plans to build the three facilities in the Village of White Pigeon to house each line.
BNSF’s North Region has experienced the most rapid growth in recent years and is a destination point for materials that support the production of crude oil in the Bakken. BNSF plans to invest approximately $700 million in the North Region to expand rail capacity and continue the implementation of Positive Train Control technology.
With rail network congestion improving in some of the nation’s grain belt, Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway are facing another prospective headache: a shutdown of the port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the country’s largest. [...] BNSF spokeswoman Amy Casas said Friday that "unresolved labor issues" at the port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach have the potential to cut into business at its intermodal terminals in both Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Cranes at the two make 1.5 billion container lifts a year.
Business customers rated MidAmerican Energy Co. the highest for overall satisfaction for the second year in a row, according to the J.D. Power Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study. The 2015 study measures satisfaction among business customers of 101 U.S. electric utilities. [...] MidAmerican took top honors again among 13 companies in the Midwest Region-Large Segment. Its overall satisfaction index score of 718 was up 21 points from last year, and 13 points ahead of the runner-up.
Commercial insurance company Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance is expanding into Canada and bringing with it big coverage rates set to shake up the industry. The company’s Canadian foray comes just 21 days after it entered the U.S. market. In the past two months, it picked up licenses to operate in Hong Kong and Singapore, signalling an ambitious expansion effort by the insurer, owned by business magnate Warren Buffet and known for its predilection for taking risks and growing quickly. [...] Pete Karageorgos, the director of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said the expansion is "positive and growth is always good," but he warned that the Canadian insurance market has more regulatory oversight and different coverage levels than that of the U.S.
H.J. Heinz Co., the ketchup-maker owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and 3G Capital Inc., sold $2 billion in bonds to repay a portion of its term loans, the company said in a statement. The 10-year second-lien notes were sold at par to yield 4.875 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. [...] "Heinz is a household name with a tremendous history, stable products, they have been cutting costs, and in the end there is a Buffett premium priced in that helped the deal,” said Matthew Duch, a money manager at Calvert Investments in Bethesda, Maryland, which oversees more than $13 billion in assets. “The pricing was fair, and people are going in looking to park cash here."
At the end of the third quarter, Berkshire Hathaway -- Warren Buffett's company -- disclosed it had a $17 billion stake in Coca-Cola, a $13.4 billion position in IBM, and roughly $5 billion in Wal-Mart. All signs indicate Buffett will continue to hold them into 2015 and well beyond.
To be considered a Dividend Aristocrat, a company must boast a history of at least 25 consecutive years of uninterrupted dividend growth. Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Wal-Mart are not only part of that select group, they are also included in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway portfolio.
Not too long ago, Berkshire was seen as a way to buy into the billionaire’s skill picking stocks. These days, it’s primarily a bet on his ability to make acquisitions and distribute funds among the dozens of businesses he bought over the past five decades, including electric utilities, manufacturers, retailers and one of the largest U.S. railroads. “The market’s realizing that it’s more than just that stock portfolio,” said David Rolfe, who oversees about $10.5 billion including Berkshire shares at Wedgewood Partners Inc.
The Lubrizol Corporation announces it has completed the acquisition in the United States and Canada of Weatherford International’s global oilfield chemicals business, known as Engineered Chemistry and its United States drilling fluids business, known as Integrity Industries. Closings in the rest of the world will occur throughout 2015. The transaction was announced on December 1, 2014. With the close of the transaction, Engineered Chemistry and Integrity Industries, along with Lubrizol’s legacy energy and water business and Berkshire Hathaway portfolio company, Lubrizol Specialty Products, Inc., will form Lubrizol Oilfield Solutions, a new business segment for the company. Lubrizol Oilfield Solutions joins the company’s other business segments, Lubrizol Additives and Lubrizol Advanced Materials. Within this new segment, Engineered Chemistry and Integrity Industries will operate substantially as they do now.
When Skyline Corp. rolled the last RV off the assembly line in the Great Recession and shut down in April 2012, it was a stunning blow to the San Jacinto Valley economy. [...] Forest River Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, bought the Hemet plant in December from KPL to open its 67th assembly plant in the nation. [...] Miller did say Forest River would spend more than $1 million to retrofit two buildings on the 18-acre site for the assembly work for Salem, Wildwood and Evo travel trailers, and the Stealth, Shockwave and Sand Storm toy-haulers. [...] Forest River intends to keep the Rialto factory open, Miller said. “When all is said and done, we expect to employ 500-plus people.” “It’s a heartwarming story, one you don’t hear much in the corporate world,” said John Jansons, Hemet’s director of community investment.
Through the first nine months of 2014 the premiums written -- essentially, revenue -- at GEICO have grown by 10%, rising from $13.7 billion last year to $15.2 billion this year. As shown below, this trend is nothing new, as the 2014 levels now stand 45% above the 2010 levels [...] Yet it isn't just the revenue which is rising, but also the income, as GEICO's underwriting gain -- the difference between its premiums earned minus the losses related to insurance payouts and underwriting expenses -- has grown from $610 million through the first nine months of 2011 to $1 billion so far in 2014. In short, GEICO isn't just growing its top line; it is also becoming more and more profitable as well.
An improved economy has led to an increase in business and private-aviation flights. As a result, Columbus-based NetJets plans to hire 187 pilots and as many as 50 flight attendants to meet this growing demand. “Due to the strength of our business, . . . we were able to not only recall pilots who were furloughed in 2009 because of the economic downturn, but grow our business to the point where we can open the door for new team members as well,” NetJets Chief Operating Officer Bill Noe said in a statement. NetJets doesn’t disclose revenue, but officials said the number of hours its planes were in the air rose 7 percent in 2014 after a 6 percent jump in 2013. [...] NetJets and its pilots union have been in talks for a new labor agreement since May 2013, and “ there’s nothing new to report,” Herbert said. The parties are operating under the terms of the expired contract.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the firm controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, is pushing to sell more insurance to energy and construction companies by offering as much as $25 million in new pollution coverage. The protection is an add-on to traditional general liability coverage, according to a statement today from Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, the parent company’s Boston-based commercial unit. [...] Berkshire is already among the largest reinsurers of asbestos and environmental policies. It has struck deals with carriers including AIG, CNA Financial Corp. and Liberty Mutual Holding Co. to backstop policies.
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that it has received an insurance license to carry on all classes of General Business in and from Hong Kong and filled several key positions in its newly established Hong Kong office. [...] Last month BHSI announced that it had received its license in Singapore.
In December, Buffett issued his latest biennial memo to Berkshire operating company managers (whom he refers to as his "All-Stars"). The Berkshire chairman and CEO requested three things from this select group of businesspeople. [...] Protect Berkshire's reputation [...] Report bad news -- and bad apples -- quickly [...] Succession: Identify the next "All-Star" roster
It took a while to make it to YouTube, but actress Anna Gunn’s description of meeting Warren Buffett and the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards at a party may still be worth retelling. “I got a tap on the shoulder and turned around and there was Warren Buffett,” the "Breaking Bad" star told Jimmy Kimmel on his ABC talk show. Buffett, a fan of the TV series, praised her acting and the show. She was at a loss for words, but not Kimmel, who said, "See, now that’s the moment where you say, ‘That’s very nice, can I have $20 million?' "
The elephant in the room with Berkshire Hathaway is the question surrounding what will be done with the mountain of cash it's currently sitting on. At the end of June, Berkshire had $55.5 billion in cold, hard cash sitting on its balance sheet. Astoundingly, that's nearly $20 billion more than it had in June of last year [...] In other words, in one year's time, Berkshire brought in cash roughly equivalent to the market value of Chipotle Mexican Grill. So the question becomes, what will Buffett do with all of that cash?
Brooks Running Co., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, hit the $500 million mark in annual sales last April. The company hit that milestone as a result of CEO Jim Weber’s efforts over a decade to specialize on running, rather than trying to be a mini-Nike and be all things to all people. The result is a 13% share of the performance running shoe market (Nike is in the low 40’s). Weber, CEO since 2001, says the company can become a billion-dollar brand at some point thanks to an overhaul to its apparel selection hitting stores in a year, a continued focus on marketing to runners specifically and sponsoring the right running events.
(FlightSafety has been owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 1996.)
A twin-engine Beechcraft King Air crashed into the FlightSafety Cessna Pilot Learning Center on Thursday, killing the pilot and three people inside flight simulators. The cause of the crash, which also seriously damaged the building, is still being investigated. [...] FlightSafey will "definitely have to scramble" but has a large network to help and is good at managing situations, said Rolland Vincent, an aviation consultant. "This is very disruptive," Vincent said. "These flight simulators are very busy and are booked well in advance."
The building struck by a Beechcraft King Air B200 at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport shortly after takeoff Thursday is one of FlightSafety International’s five centers in Wichita. Wichita has the highest concentration of FlightSafety centers in the world, the company has said. Pilots and maintenance technicians come to Wichita from around the world to train in Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft and Hawker products.
(Referencing losses with Tesco, IBM, and Coca-Cola.)
Judging by the share price alone, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is having a terrific 2014. After all, Berkshire Hathaway is up 17.7% year to date, trouncing the 7.95% rise in S&P 500. [...] Recently, several of Buffett's high-profile bets have fallen out of bed. Each stumble has its own particular explanation. But taken together, they share an overarching theme. The moats that protect these businesses aren't as wide as they once were. Even worse, competitors aren't even bothering to try to cross them. They're just inventing a completely different way of doing business.
MidAmerican Energy Co., the utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has signed an agreement through June 2024 with Siemens AG to support a dozen wind farms in Iowa. Siemens will provide service and maintenance for 958 turbines that will have a combined capacity of more than 2.2 gigawatts, according to a statement today. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
Seattle and Tacoma are being stymied in their push to regain market share from Canada as railcars destined for the harbors sit idle on tracks across the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Even as the ports, on Washington’s Puget Sound, agreed to consolidate some operations after a century of competition, 40-fold growth in shipments of crude from the Bakken oil fields is straining the region’s main railroad company, BNSF Railway Co., causing delays that have helped shift traffic to less congested harbors in Canada. In September, as many as 150 grain cars piled up in nearby rail yards, said Dale Frazier, manager of Seattle Bulk Shipping Inc.
Forest River Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, and publicly held Thor Industries Inc. yesterday (Nov. 4) announced the establishment of an unprecedented community foundation set up to benefit the 15,000-plus employees of the two RV-building corporate giants and their families during times of need. The Forest River/Thor Community Foundation will be jointly funded by the two companies and will provide grants of up to $20,000 per qualifying employee or family to help cover emergency financial needs incurred in a variety of unforeseen family crises such as acute illnesses, natural disasters, fires or other hardships. Both firms are based in Elkhart, Ind.
The biggest story of the week was Berkshire Hathaway's 2nd Quarter 13F filing, detailing the changes to the company's stock holdings for the period ending June 30. Here's a easy-to-read chart of the portfolio as it stands now.
This story has a run-down of all the changes in the largest holdings:
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is again putting money on cable TV consolidation bets made by Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John Malone. The Oracle of Omaha’s investment company has taken a new, $366 million position in Charter Communications Inc., the Stamford, Connecticut-based cable TV company in which Malone’s Liberty Media is the largest shareholder.
First, Berkshire added about $340 million worth of IBM. This is not a huge transaction for Buffett, but he is adding this to an already substantial stake now valued at over $13 billion. [...] Second, Buffett has been buying Wal-Mart. While he only bought a small position in the second-quarter, I suspect that he has been buying more recently as the stock has been weak. [...] Finally, Buffett has been adding shares of Suncor — a Canadian oil company — while selling shares in ConocoPhillips and its recent spinoff Phillips 66. This is an interesting move and it probably reflects Suncor’s higher growth and the fact that Canada has a lower — 15 percent — corporate tax rate than we have in the U.S.
Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock, which first topped $1,000 in 1983, on Thursday surpassed $200,000. [...] The stock has had its ups and downs. The Class A shares first hit six figures in October 2006 and peaked at $151,650 in December 2007, when the Great Recession began. They fell as low as $70,050 in March 2009. On Thursday, they reached an all-time high of $202,454.99. Berkshire Hathaway has come a long way since Buffett's investment partnership started buying shares for $7 and $8 apiece in 1962. At that point, Berkshire was a New England textile company.
Insurance float is a concept that Warren Buffett has clearly explained as a source of enduring value for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. However, there are other sources of float that are becoming more important to Berkshire over time, but are not well understood by investors. Deferred tax liabilities (DTLs) are one area worthy of focus, and while I know that tax is boring, you will realize Buffett is truly a genius when it comes to float, so bear with me as I try my best to explain how it works, as it is complex. The first idea that might spring to mind for many people on deferred taxes is unrealised capital gains - to be clear, the focus of this article extends deeper than just this. Read on...
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. hired two Asia-based executives from American International Group Inc. as part of a push to expand its presence in the region, a person familiar with the matter said. Marc Breuil, AIG’s head of country operations in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Marcus Portbury, the regional head of casualty insurance, are joining Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s specialty insurance business, said the person, who requested anonymity because there was no public announcement. Breuil will lead the company’s efforts across Asia and Portbury will be head of casualty in the region, according to the person.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has agreed to pay an $896,000 civil penalty to the U.S. government for having failed to timely report that it had boosted its voting stake in building products company USG Corp . [...] The government said Berkshire failed to made the necessary filing before swapping some USG convertible notes into common stock last Dec. 9. Berkshire made a corrective filing on Jan. 3, 2014, the complaint said.
On a day when big hedge-fund managers were disclosing their latest positions, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. alerted regulators Thursday to a big investment in Dow Chemical Co. It’s a position the company has held since 2009. The holding was hardly a secret: It was trumpeted by Dow at the time as one of the reasons it was able to complete a big acquisition, and Berkshire and Dow have discussed it in securities filings and public statements since. But Mr. Buffett’s firm, a sprawling conglomerate that famously employs just 25 people in its home office, admitted Thursday that a required “13G” form “was not timely filed” back when it should have been in 2009.
The Monaco Coach plant has sat empty for months, but that will soon come to an end. According to Harrisburg [Oregon] City Administrator Brian Latta, RV maker Forest River Inc. has purchased the plant. Paul Eskritt with Forest River said the plant will start work in September with about 30 employees, most of whom they hope to hire locally. They plan to expand employment this winter with a second production line.
BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway say they are steadily reducing a backlog of grain shipments, but agricultural shippers warn the true test of whether they can handle the upcoming harvest will come quickly, in a week or two. Meanwhile, pressure from Washington, D.C., is mounting on the two railroads to make greater progress in reducing a backlog of shipments caused by the harsh 2013-2014 winter and a surge of freight. Following the U.S. Surface Transportation Board directing in late July that BNSF and CP post weekly updates on backlogged grain shipments, the U.S. regulatory agency said it will hold a public hearing on the issue in early September in Fargo, North Dakota.
Warren Buffett, the second richest person in the United States, has inadvertently triggered a tumble into the red by the Australian operations of baked beans, baby food and soup maker Heinz. A heavy restructuring of the balance sheet at Heinz’s Australian operations and a recalibration of tax losses caused the Australian business known as Heinz Wattie’s to tumble to a loss of $12.3 million in its latest financial year.
One Bay Area couple can now say for certain their house is covered by insurance. A 4,000-square-foot Geico insurance banner being towed by a plane came loose and fell directly on their house Friday in Fremont.
Revenues: $49.8 Billion, up 11% (vs. 2Q of 2013)
Earnings: $6.4 Billion ($3,889 per BRK-A share), up 41% (vs. 2Q of 2013)
Book Value: $142,483 per BRK-A Share, up 5.6% (from the end of 2013)
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as results improved at operating businesses including auto insurer Geico, railroad BNSF and the energy unit.
Net income surged 41 percent to a record $6.4 billion on gains from an asset swap with the former Washington Post publisher, Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based company said yesterday in a statement. Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, were $2,634 a share, compared with the $2,482 estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Results included $1.96 billion of investment gains. Berkshire shed $2.86 billion of equities in the quarter, including a swap of a 40-year investment in former Washington Post publisher Graham Holdings Co. [...]
Profit grew 29 percent from manufacturing, service and retail operations, such as Berkshire's Lubrizol chemicals and Forest River recreational vehicle units.
Pre-tax profit doubled in apparel, helped by lower manufacturing and pension costs at Fruit of the Loom.
Profit also increased 34 percent in energy and utilities, largely reflecting a year-end purchase of Nevada's NV Energy.
BNSF Railway's profit grew 4 percent, but Berkshire expressed disappointment, saying, "Service levels continued to be well below our internal standards, as well as those expected by our customers."
Many insurance businesses also posted improved results, with larger underwriting gains from Geico auto insurance and General Re reinsurance, and in a business that provides commercial and worker's compensation insurance.
The insurance results were hurt by a small underwriting loss in a business that insures against major catastrophes, which Berkshire attributed mainly to currency fluctuations. [...]
Berkshire's cash stake surged to $55.46 billion from $48.95 billion at the end of March.
By the time Watson realized that he “wasn’t good enough” for professional baseball, his part-time job hadbecome his new passion – one that he pursued to the executive boardroom of Fort Worth-based Justin Brands Inc., a recognized leader in Western footwear. Watson said the competitive and team spirit he learned playing football and baseball helped him succeed in the business world. It also led Ernst & Young to select the Justin CEO as its 2013 Southwest-north Entrepreneur of the Year in manufacturing and distribution. [...] Buffett reiterated his description of Watson as “the prototype Berkshire Hathaway manager” when he promoted him to CEO and board chairman of Justin Brands in 2011.
For the first time in memory, the industry’s two RV-building volume leaders, Thor Industries Inc. and Forest River Inc., are in a dead heat for retail market share in both towable and motorized RVs [...] But the real news here is to what extent Forest River is pressing its case in both towable and motorized RVs, even while both companies continue to post impressive growth during the current economic recovery. Thor, for its part, recently posted its first $2 billion quarter, and revenues for Forest River, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary, were running at least 22% ahead of last year through June, Forest River President and CEO Pete Liegl confirms.
Business at Columbus-based NetJets continues to strengthen, according to the latest report of parent company Berkshire Hathaway. The second-quarter earnings news from the company led by billionaire Warren Buffett shows that, in the first six months of this year, NetJets “experienced increased sales of fractional aircraft shares and its earnings increased primarily due to improved flight-operations margins, fractional-sales margins and reduced net financing costs.”Observers say the new planes being added to its fleet and diminished competition in its industry have helped.
Shaw Industries is vacuuming up talent in North Georgia for a new plant that will churn out carpet tile across the U.S., the company announced today. The Dalton, Ga.-based business, which is owned by Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett, will spend $85 million and create 500 new jobs at a new plant in Adairsville designed to meet growing demand for Shaw's soft wares. It will be the seventh facility for Shaw in Bartow County, where it is already the biggest employer. "I think our business has turned," said Vance Bell, CEO of Shaw. "Carpet tile today is well over 50 percent of our commercial carpet mix and continues to grow, and it's just received a very good audience in the commercial marketplace."
Basic trailer tracking service at no charge is now being offered to fleets on new long-term leased trailers from XTRA Lease, the company said. XTRA Lease noted its offered basic trailer tracking on dry van rentals for free but is now upping the ante to include such basic tracking service at no extra cost on all newly leased dry vans and late model reefers, model-year 2010 and newer. The services will enable fleets to view current and historical trailer locations, “drill down” into dormancy and usage data utilization info to better understand how trailers are being used, as well as provide e-mail subscription reports offering the latest location and dormancy information on those leased units.
New York-based FlightSafety International has added new Cessna Aircraft Co. training simulators in San Antonio and two other U.S. locations. FlightSafety — a division of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — now offers simulator training for the Citation CJ2+ aircraft at its Alamo City learning center. It is the only dedicated CJ2+ simulator worldwide, company officials say.
San Francisco-based See's Candies is recalling all its Dark Chocolate Blueberries because the product contains undeclared milk, the company said in a press release that was posted on the Food and Drug Administration website. The recall was initiated after a customer reported having an allergic reaction to the product, the statement said.
Dairy Queen now owns the world record for the largest fruit sculpture ever after hiring an artist to build a 10-foot-tall tree. The restaurant chain sponsored the fruit sculpture in Calgary, Alberta, Canada earlier this month as part of a promotional event for its Orange Julius smoothies. Sculptor Shawn Feeney used 1,200 pieces of pineapples, oranges, strawberries, peaches and mangos to build the tree.
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