Berkshire Hathaway, the investment and insurance company led by famous American investor Warren Buffett, announced on the 4th that its cash on hand has reached a record high of $157.2 billion (approximately 23 trillion yen). In addition to rising interest rates, the lack of meaningful deals for Buffett to put his money into has contributed to the increase in cash on hand.
Berkshire said its cash reserves, primarily invested in short-term U.S. Treasuries, exceeded the high level recorded in the third quarter of 2021. At the same time, operating profit for the July-September period of this year was announced to increase to $10.76 billion. The impact of rising interest rates and profits from the insurance business contributed.
Mr Warren Buffett
Source: Bloomberg
Berkshire has ramped up its acquisitions in recent years, but has struggled to find the kind of big deals that made Buffett famous. Buffett, who took a backseat during the coronavirus pandemic, has since bought more shares in Occidental Petroleum and spent $11.6 billion to buy U.S. insurance company Allegheny. However, with a lack of attractive deals, Buffett is leaning heavily toward his stock buybacks.
Berkshire spent $1.1 billion on stock buybacks in the July-September period. Total stock buybacks for the first nine months of the year amounted to about $7 billion. The company reduced its stock portfolio in the July-September quarter.
Including losses on investments and derivatives, Berkshire posted a loss of about $12.8 billion in the July-September period. The deficit widened from the same period last year due to losses in the stock portfolio.
news-rsf-original-reference paywall">Original title:Buffett’s Cash Hits Record $157 Billion Amid Scarce Deals (2)(excerpt)
2023-11-05 01:55:16
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