Berkshire Hathaway Swings to $21.66 Billion First-Quarter Profit

By Nicole Friedman 

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. swung to a first-quarter profit, thanks in part to higher insurance investment income.

Still, Berkshire's earnings excluded its share of earnings from its 27% stake in Kraft Heinz Inc., because Kraft Heinz hasn't yet filed its earnings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Berkshire said in a press release. Write downs at Kraft Heinz weighed on Berkshire's performance in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Berkshire and private-equity firm 3G Capital formed Kraft Heinz when they merged their H.J. Heinz Co. with Kraft Foods Group Inc. in 2015. Mr. Buffett said earlier this year that he overpaid for Kraft in that deal but didn't plan to sell.

Berkshire's results were released Saturday morning ahead of the company's widely attended annual meeting in Omaha, Neb.

Berkshire reported first-quarter net earnings of $21.66 billion, or $13,209 per Class A share equivalent, from a loss of $1.14 billion, or $692 a share, in the year-earlier period. Last year's first-quarter earnings swung to a loss due to unrealized investment losses.

Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, rose to $5.56 billion from $5.29 billion in the year prior.

Berkshire bought back $1.7 billion of its own shares in the first quarter, the company said. Berkshire changed its buyback policy last year, and some shareholders have said they would like the company to spend significantly more cash repurchasing its stock.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2019 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.