Berkshire Hathaway Q2 Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B), Friday reported an increase in profit for the second quarter, driven largely by strong operating earnings at insurance business and higher investment gains.

Berkshire is a holding company with a number of operating subsidiaries like auto insurer Geico, reinsurer General Re, railroad BNSF, lubricant maker Lubrizol, energy utilities and a host of other manufacturing and retail companies. Berkshire also holds significant minority stake in Apple Inc. (AAPL)

The company's insurance underwriting business reported an operating earnings of $337 million compared to last year's loss of $38 million. Railroad, utilities and energy unit's operating earnings for the quarter dropped to $1.25 billion from $1.47 billion last year.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway reported second-quarter profit of $5.00 billion or $3,042 per share Class A share, up from $4.01 billion or $2,442 per Class A share last year.

Excluding items, operating earnings for the second quarter was $4.61 billion or $2,803 per share, up from $3.89 billion or $2,367 per share last year.

Total revenue for the second quarter rose to $54.46 billion from $51.37 billion in the same quarter last year.

Since the beginning of the year, Berkshire's equity has increased $7.5 billion and its book value per Class A equivalent share has increased by 2.9% to $160,009.

BRK-B shares closed Friday's trading at $145.65, up $2.53 or 1.77%, on the NYSE. The stock, however, slipped $1.14 or 0.78% in the after-hours trade.