Berkshire’s Operating Profit Jumps on Insurance, Rates Boost
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The Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting last year.
Photographer: Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg
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Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s operating earnings surged 71% in the fourth quarter, as higher interest rates lifted the conglomerate’s investment income and its insurance business improved.
Operating earnings were $14.5 billion in the three months through December, Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said Saturday in a statement. The increase was driven in part by a 48% jump in insurance investment income, to $4.1 billion, amid higher interest rates.