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1、Berkshires Corporate Performance vs. the S 1967, 15 months ended 12/31. Starting in 1979, accounting rules required insurance companies to value the equity securities they hold at market rather than at the lower of cost or market, which was previously the requirement. In this table, Berkshires resul
2、ts through 1978 have been restated to conform to the changed rules. In all other respects, the results are calculated using the numbers originally reported. The S Charlie and I have again donned our safari outfits and resumed our search for elephants.Now to some good news from 2012:Last year I told
3、you that BNSF, Iscar, Lubrizol, Marmon Group and MidAmerican Energy our five most profitable non-insurance companies were likely to earn more than $10 billion pre-tax in 2012. They delivered. Despite tepid U.S. growth and weakening economies throughout much of the world, our “powerhouse five” had ag
4、gregate earnings of $10.1 billion, about $600 million more than in 2011.Of this group, only MidAmerican, then earning $393 million pre-tax, was owned by Berkshire eight years ago. Subsequently, we purchased another three of the five on an all-cash basis. In acquiring the fifth, BNSF, we paid about 7
5、0% of the cost in cash, and for the remainder, issued shares that increased the amount outstanding by 6.1%. Consequently, the $9.7 billion gain in annual earnings delivered Berkshire by the five companies has been accompanied by only minor dilution. That satisfies our goal of not simply growing, but
6、 rather increasing per-share results.Unless the U.S. economy tanks which we dont expect our powerhouse five should again deliver higher earnings in 2013. The five outstanding CEOs who run them will see to that.Though I failed to land a major acquisition in 2012, the managers of our subsidiaries did
7、far better. We had a record year for “bolt-on” purchases, spending about $2.3 billion for 26 companies that were melded into our existing businesses. These transactions were completed without Berkshire issuing any shares.Charlie and I love these acquisitions: Usually they are low-risk, burden headqu
8、arters not at all, and expand the scope of our proven managers.Our insurance operations shot the lights out last year. While giving Berkshire $73 billion of free money to invest, they also delivered a $1.6 billion underwriting gain, the tenth consecutive year of profitable underwriting. This is trul
9、y having your cake and eating it too.GEICO led the way, continuing to gobble up market share without sacrificing underwriting discipline. Since 1995, when we obtained control, GEICOs share of the personal-auto market has grown from 2.5% to 9.7%. Premium volume meanwhile increased from $2.8 billion t
10、o $16.7 billion. Much more growth lies ahead.The credit for GEICOs extraordinary performance goes to Tony Nicely and his 27,000 associates. And to that cast, we should add our Gecko. Neither rain nor storm nor gloom of night can stop him; the little lizard just soldiers on, telling Americans how the
11、y can save big money by going to GEICO.com.When I count my blessings, I count GEICO twice.4Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, our new investment managers, have proved to be smart, models of integrity, helpful to Berkshire in many ways beyond portfolio management, and a perfect cultural fit. We hit the jac
12、kpot with these two. In 2012 each outperformed the S America has faced the unknown since 1776. Its just that sometimes people focus on the myriad of uncertainties that always exist while at other times they ignore them (usually because the recent past has been uneventful).5American business will do
13、fine over time. And stocks will do well just as certainly, since their fate is tied to business performance. Periodic setbacks will occur, yes, but investors and managers are in a game that is heavily stacked in their favor. (The Dow Jones Industrials advanced from 66 to 11,497 in the 20th Century,
14、a staggering 17,320% increase that materialized despite four costly wars, a Great Depression and many recessions. And dont forget that shareholders received substantial dividends throughout the century as well.)Since the basic game is so favorable, Charlie and I believe its a terrible mistake to try
15、 to dance in and out of it based upon the turn of tarot cards, the predictions of “experts,” or the ebb and flow of business activity. The risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it.My own history provides a dramatic example: I made my first stock purchase in the sp
16、ring of 1942 when the U.S. was suffering major losses throughout the Pacific war zone. Each days headlines told of more setbacks. Even so, there was no talk about uncertainty; every American I knew believed we would prevail.The countrys success since that perilous time boggles the mind: On an inflation-adjusted basis, GDP per capita more than quadrupled between 1941 and 2012. Throughout that period, every tomorrow has been uncertain. Americas destiny, however, has always b
