Burlington Northern Berkshire's (BRK-A) Top Move Says Buffett

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (NYSE:BRK) quarterly profit rose 43 percent to the highest since 2007 on derivative gains and earnings from the railroad that billionaire Chairman Warren Buffett bought last year.

Fourth-quarter net income advanced to $4.38 billion, or $2,656 a share, from $3.06 billion, or $1,969, a year earlier, Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire said today on its website.

Buffett acquired Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26.5 billion to add the second-biggest U.S. railroad to Berkshire’s collection of insurance, energy and consumer-goods units. The 80-year-old chief executive officer issued stock and debt to fund the deal for Fort Worth, Texas-based Burlington. Economic expansion in the U.S. fueled profit gains at the freight-hauling unit in 2010.

“The highlight of 2010 was our acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, a purchase that’s working out even better than I expected,” Buffett said in his letter to shareholders today. He said he’s looking for more “major acquisitions.”




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