Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-A) tried to manage and lower expectations of shareholders for its upcoming quarterly report, as the company announced Saturday that disasters in Australia, New Zealand and Japan will weigh heavily on the results of the company, and the company's earnings will plunge in the first quarter.
Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett said at the company's annual shareholders meeting, the he looks for net earnings of $1.5 billion for the first quarter, a dramatic fall from $3.63 billion reported last year.
Operating earnings, which excludes certain gains/losses, are projected to be $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared with $2.22 billion in the same quarter last year.
Insurance underwriting losses for the quarter will come in at $821 million, far below the gain of $226 million last year.
Buffett added that pretax losses from the disasters are close to $1.67 billion for the quarter. This includes $1.06 billion from the Japan earthquake, $412 million from the New Zealand earthquake, and the rest from the Australian floods.
Berkshire closed Friday at $124,570, down $55.00, or 0.04 percent.
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