Berkshire Hathaway reported a 37% decline in second-quarter net income, to $4.01bn from $6.4bn a year earlier, reflecting a sharp drop in investment gains plus an insurance underwriting loss which a non-insurance profit could not completely offset. Half-year net income totalled $9.18bn, down from $11.10bn in 2014.
Total investment income fell nearly 90% to $236m from $1.96bn, while investment income specific to insurance experienced only a modest decline, to $977m from $1.13bn. This produced virtually flat six-month insurance investment income, $1.852bn versus $1.851bn.
Berkshire Hathaway also broke out derivatives results, showing a second- quarter loss of $113m compared with income of $101m a year earlier, and six-month income comparisons of $744m and $254m.