The following is an excerpt from James O’Toole | August 3, 2012 | CNN.com |
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway posted earnings that dropped versus a year ago, as the company reported a loss on its derivative holdings.
Buffett’s firm uses derivatives in its financial and energy businesses to speculate on certain price movements. The bets lost more than a billion dollars in value in the second quarter of this year.
Overall, Berkshire (BRKA, Fortune 500) posted net earnings of $3.1 billion for the quarter, down from $3.4 billion a year ago.
Despite this drop, Berkshire’s brick-and-mortar businesses are holding up just fine.
Operating earnings, which exclude some investment and derivative gains, came in at $3.7 billion, up from $2.7 billion last year. That translated to $2,252 per Class A share, ahead of the $1,777 projection from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
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