Berkshire Hathaway Q1 Profit Up- Update

(RTTNews) - Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) Friday said its first-quarter profit rose from last year, as revenues increased. However, the company's operating profit dropped hurt by derivative losses and lower railroad revenues.

Berkshire is a holding company with a number of operating subsidiaries like auto insurer Geico, reinsurer General Re, railroad BNSF, lubricant maker Lubrizol, energy utilities and a host of other manufacturing and retail companies.

Berkshire also holds significant minority stakes in top notch companies like American Express Co. (AXP), The Coca-Cola Co. (KO), Wells Fargo &Co. (WFC) and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM).

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire's first-quarter profit rose to $5.59 billion or $3,401 per class A share, compared to $5.16 billion or $3,143 per Class A share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, operating earnings for the quarter fell to $3.74 billion or $2,274 per Class A share from $4.24 billion or $3,143 per Class A share in the prior year quarter.

Total revenue for the quarter grew to $52.40 billion from $48.64 billion in the same quarter last year

BRK-A shares closed Friday's trading at $217,000.00, up $1,120.00 or 0.52% in the after-hours trading.