It’s around that time of year again when Warren Buffett releases his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. (Buffett has been writing his annual letters since 1965 and you can read his past letters here.)
This year, Buffett has once again shared his wit and wisdom as he reveals his thoughts about Berkshire Hathaway’s past year’s performance and his outlook ahead.
So if you don’t have the time to go through all 17 pages of his latest essay, here are seven things I learned from Warren Buffett’s 2017 annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders:
1. New GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) rules mean that Berkshire must now include unrealised fair value gains/losses in its net income figures. Previously, Berkshire only had to include realised gains and losses. As we know, Berkshire owns a large amount of marketable shares (over $170 billion as at 31 December 2017) and any swings in value will severely distort the company’s results. Buffet cautions:
“For analytical purposes, Berkshire’s “bottom-line” will be useless.”
2. Berkshire only made one sizable standalone acquisition in 2017 – a 38.6% interest in Pilot Flying J with plans to boost ownership to 80% in 2023. PFJ is the largest U.S. truck stop operator with more than 750 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Despite the availability of extraordinarily cheap debt to fund more acquisitions, Buffett’s taste for debt remains low.
“Our aversion to leverage has dampened our returns over the years. But Charlie and I sleep well. Both of us believe it is insane to risk what you have and need in order to obtain what you don’t need… Despite our recent drought of acquisitions, Charlie and I believe that from time to time Berkshire will have opportunities to make very large purchases. In the meantime, we will stick with our simple guideline: The less the prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we must conduct our own.”
3. Berkshire’s already massive float increased to $114 billion in 2017. As is widely known, Berkshire invests this float to generate capital gains, interest, and dividends. He highlighted that, unlike bank deposits or insurance policies with surrender options, Berkshire’s float can’t be withdrawn and suffer a ‘run’ in times of crisis.
4. Berkshire’s non-insurance profit gives the company unparalleled financial strength in the insurance industry. Buffett warned that a mega-catastrophe in the U.S. could cause $400 billion in insured losses and estimates that Berkshire’s share of that loss to be around $12 billion – an amount that Berkshire’s non-insurance profit can easily cover.
5. Berkshire’s non-insurance operations generated $20 billion in pre-tax income in 2017, a growth of 5% year-on-year. Forty-four percent of profit was contributed by two subsidiaries: BNSF Railway and Berkshire Hathaway Energy (90.2% interest). Buffett shared that he still aims to increase Berkshire’s non-insurance profit significantly:
“Berkshire’s goal is to substantially increase the earnings of its non-insurance group. For that to happen, we will need to make one or more huge acquisitions. We certainly have the resources to do so. At yearend Berkshire held $116.0 billion in cash and U.S. Treasury Bills (whose average maturity was 88 days), up from $86.4 billion at yearend 2016. This extraordinary liquidity earns only a pittance and is far beyond the level Charlie and I wish Berkshire to have. Our smiles will broaden when we have redeployed Berkshire’s excess funds into more productive assets“
6. Berkshire owns $170 billion in stock investments as at 31 December 2017 and received $3.7 billion in dividends in 2017. Buffett reminded shareholders that he views these investments as part-ownership of their respective businesses for the long term.
7. Berkshire has suffered four major crashes in the last 53 years, and used it as an example of how stock prices can swing drastically in the short term and why one should never borrow money to invest.