Berkshire posts record operating profit, rising rates boost Buffett's returnsBy Jonathan Stempel
August 6, 202312:53 AM GMT+8Updated 6 hours ago
柏克夏公佈創紀錄的營運盈利，上升的利率提升了巴菲特的回報率
作者：喬納森·斯滕佩爾
2023年8月6日上午12時53分 GMT+8 更新於6小時前
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) on Saturday posted its highest ever quarterly operating profit, while gains from stock holdings helped the conglomerate led by billionaire Warren Buffett swing to a nearly $36 billion overall profit.
8月5日（路透社） - 柏克夏·哈撒韋（BRKa.N）在週六公佈了有史以來最高的季度營運盈利，而股票持有的收益幫助這家由億萬富翁華倫·巴菲特領導的企業集團實現了近360億美元的總盈利。
Rising interest rates, and better results at the Geico car insurer, allowed Berkshire's insurance businesses to generate more money in the second quarter, with profit up 38% and interest and other investment income growing sixfold.
But while operating profit topped $10 billion, those same rising rates have made it more costly to buy and upgrade homes, hurting results at Berkshire's Clayton Homes and building products businesses, and buy RVs from its Forest River unit, where revenue sank 34%.
Profit also fell at one of Berkshire's largest businesses, the BNSF railroad, with a 24% decline reflecting lower shipments of consumer goods, price competition from truckers, and higher pay for employees.
上升的利率以及Geico汽車保險公司的較好業績使柏克夏的保險業務在第二季度賺取更多資金，盈利增長了38％，利息和其他投資收益增長了六倍。
但是，盡管營運盈利超過了100億美元，但同樣上升的利率使得購買和升級房屋的成本更高，從而影響了柏克夏的克萊頓房屋和建築產品業務的業績，以及其旗下的森林河流（Forest River）部門的房車（RVs）銷售，其收入下降了34％。
柏克夏最大的一家企業之一——BNSF鐵路的盈利也下降了24％，這反映出消費品運輸量的減少，來自卡車運輸業者的價格競爭以及員工的薪酬上升。
Berkshire also appeared to remain wary of high stock prices as U.S. equities extended their rally.
During the second quarter it sold $8 billion more stocks than it bought and repurchased less of its own stock, and it ended June with a near-record $147.4 billion of cash.
"The story here is interest rates, and valuations of stocks," said Jim Shanahan, an Edward Jones analyst with a "buy" rating on Berkshire.
柏克夏似乎仍對高股價保持警惕，因為美國股市延續了其反彈行情。在第二季度，它比賣出的股票多賣出了80億美元，回購了更少的自家股票，截至6月，其現金資產接近創紀錄的1474億美元。
愛德華·瓊斯（Edward Jones）分析師吉姆·沙納漢（Jim Shanahan）表示：“這裡的故事是利率和股票的估值。”他對柏克夏給予“買入”評級。