Berkshire Hathaway has announced an 82% rise in profits in its third quarter results. However, the conglomerate said that the pandemic has hurt some of its assorted businesses.
On Saturday Berkshire said that it had earned $30.1 billion which translates to $18,994 per Class A share during the third quarter. These gains were mainly due to improvements of its large stake investments in companies including Apple and Bank of America.
Berkshire’s utility unit reported $1,395 billion in profits. This is an increase of 18% from last year and was fueled by higher tax credits for wind energy and several renewable power projects in the anvil. Two companies that struggled during the pandemic were Precision Castparts aircrafts parts manufacturing company and BNSF railroad both of whom registered large drops in pre-tax revenues.
Berkshire owns more than 90 companies in various sectors including insurance, furniture, manufacturing and jewelry. It also has major investments in several large and successful conglomerates including American Express, Moody’s and Coco Cola. It also has above 5 % stakes in 5 large Japanese trading houses. It is comfortably placed with $145.7 billion in cash and short-term investments despite repurchases and investments.
