Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company run by billionaire investor Mr Warren Buffett, reported a 76 per cent drop in annual profits today, cut by $2.4 billion in claims from the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Berkshire, whose main business is insurance, reported a net profit of $795 million, or $521 a share, for the full year 2001. That compared with a profit of $3.3 billion, or $2,185 a share, the year before. The drastic drop in profit was due mostly to massive claims from the destruction of New York's World Trade Centrr, which hit Berkshire's General Re unit, the largest US reinsurer.
Overall, Berkshire's insurance and reinsurance units had $2.4 billion in September 11th claims, a large chunk of the $40 billion or so insurers worldwide are expected to pay out for the attack on the twin towers.
Berkshire's stock, which has not been split in Buffett's 37 years in charge of the firm, closed at $71,800 a share yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The stock has underperformed rivals so far this year, falling about 5 per cent, compared with a 1.5 per cent rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.