Berkshire Hathaway im 3.Q. mit 679 Mio.$ Verlust

Berkshire Has Loss on Attack Claims; to Raise Rates (Update1)
By Dan Lonkevich


Omaha, Nebraska, Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had a third-quarter loss, reflecting $2.28 billion in claims from the attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company, which owns General Re Corp., car insurer Geico Corp. and a range of other companies and investments, posted a third-quarter net loss of $679 million, or $445 a share, compared with profit of $797 million, or $523, a year earlier. The company's losses from the attack were revised up from an original estimate of $2.2 billion.

Buffett broke from his usual practise of providing minimal quarterly earnings figures with a note to shareholders in which he called himself and the company ``foolish'' for not adequately setting rates to reflect the risk of a major, manmade catastrophe such as the Sept. 11 attacks. While Berkshire and other insurers are raising rates to recoup losses, Buffett said claims may rise further, and take years to sort out; he vowed to overhaul General Re's underwriting practises.

``We, and the rest of the rest of the industry, included coverage for terrorist acts in policies covering other risks -- and received no additional premium for doing so,'' Buffett wrote. ``That was a huge mistake and one that I myself allowed.''

Buffett said $1.7 billion of Berkshire's share of the attack claims -- estimated at as much as $70 billion overall -- came from General Re, while $575 million came from Berkshire's other reinsurance interests. Together, General Re, Geico and Berkshire's other insurance interests account for 60 percent of the company's revenue.

Operating Loss