Eastern. The drop likely stemmed from the release of the company’s third-quarter earnings on Saturday , when it posted a net loss of $12.8 billion, or $5.88 per share. However, if you look a little deeper into the numbers, the selloff may have been a knee-jerk reaction to what was actually a pretty good quarter. One business line in particular stood out for Berkshire Hathaway: insurance.
and insurance holdings lead the way The firm’s earnings got a huge boost from its insurance businesses, which includes , Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group, and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group. Insurance group revenue was up 19% to $24.3 billion, while net earnings were $5.9 billion, up from just $387 million a year ago in this same quarter.
recorded $1.1 billion in net earnings, up from a net loss of $759 million a year ago, while BH Reinsurance Group had earnings of $1.4 billion in the quarter, up from a net loss of $251 million in the third quarter of 2022. earnings climbed on a 13% decrease in underwriting expenses, and its expense ratio — underwriting expense to premiums earned — was down 1.4 percentage points to 9.3% in the third quarter. For the first nine months, the expense ratio was down 2.1 percentage points to 9.7%, stemming from a 54% reduction in advertising expenses incurred. That may seem hard to believe, given how often those commercials seem to be on, but it’s true.