Warren Buffett owned Berkshire Hathaway posts $25 billion loss in last quarter of FY18

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced a net loss in its 4th quarter financial report on Saturday. The company declared a rare loss of $25 billion after reduction in market value of some of its investments. The loss was majorly contributed by its Kraft Heinz holdings, which was around $3.02 billion. Berkshire Hathaway owns 35 million shares of Kraft Heinz, making it one of the Omaha, Nebraska-based company's largest holdings. Berkshire owns around 26 percent of the food maker run (Kraft Heinz) by the Brazilian firm of 3G Capital, which is known for its good cost controlling methods.

Buffett mentioned that Berkshire Hathaway and its investments are doing well overall, but it has to record the market value of its stock holdings at the end of every quarter and Buffett has been unable to find profitable acquisitions this quarter. Berkshire lost a total of $25.4 billion, or $10.31 per Class B share, in the last quarter. Which is down from last year's profit of $32.6 billion, or $13.19 per B share.

In the 4th quarter, Berkshire's revenue grew at $63.7 billion, up from $58.8 billion in the year 2017. The operating profits have also climbed to $5.72 billion from $3.34 billion (about $3,848 per Class A share).

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has more than 90 companies, that includes railroad, clothing, furniture, jewelry businesses etc. While its insurance and utility businesses contribute more than half of the company's net income. The company also shares major investments in well known players like Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Wells Fargo & Co.

Buffett also issued his popular annual letter to Berkshire shareholders in which he generally offers insight into regular operations at Berkshire; general wisdom and business advice; and stock purchases he made over the year.

The letter says, that disappointing reality means that 2019 will likely see us again expanding our holdings of marketable equities but Berkshire will continue, nevertheless, to hope for an elephant-sized acquisition. The company has ended the year with $111.9 billion stack of cash and equivalents as per their quarterly figures.