Buffett's Berkshire posts higher income

Holding company sees 12% gain over 2006 quarter, boosted by insurance underwriting.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Berkshire Hathaway, the diversified holding company run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, reported higher first-quarter earnings Friday.

Berkshire (Charts, Fortune 500) reported net earnings of $2.6 billion, or $1,682 a share, according to a press release on the company's Web site. That's 12.2 percent higher than the same quarter a year earlier.

The company, which is involved in everything from insurance and energy to manufacturing and retailing, nearly doubled its earnings from insurance underwriting.

A single class A share of Berkshire Hathaway closed at over $108,000 on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.

The report came a day before the company's famous annual meeting kicks off in Omaha, Neb.

Festivities at what Buffett himself calls the "Woodstock for Capitalists" begin Friday evening with cocktails at Borsheim's, a Berkshire-owned jeweler west of downtown. They end Sunday with a steak dinner at Buffett's favorite restaurant, Gorat's.  Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.