巴菲特致股东的信（1998年）
⑧报告收益来源

Sources of Reported Earnings

         The table that follows shows the main sources of Berkshire's reported earnings. In this presentation, purchase-accounting adjustments are not assigned to the specific businesses to which they apply, but are instead aggregated and shown separately. This procedure lets you view the earnings of our businesses as they would have been reported had we not purchased them. For the reasons discussed on pages 62 and 63, this form of presentation seems to us to be more useful to investors and managers than one utilizing generally-accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which require purchase-premiums to be charged off business-by-business. The total earnings we show in the table are, of course, identical to the GAAP total in our audited financial statements.

报告收益来源

下表显示伯克希尔报告收益的主要来源，在这张表中购买法会计调整数会从个别被投资公司分离出来，单独加总列示，之所以这样做是为了让旗下各业务的收益状况，不因我们的投资而有所影响，过去我一再地强调我们认为这样的表达方式，较之一般公认会计原则要求以个别企业基础做调整，不管是对投资者或是管理者来说，更有帮助，当然最后损益加总的数字仍然会与经会计师查核的数字一致。

(1) Includes Executive Jet from August 7, 1998.
(2) Includes Star Furniture from July 1, 1997.
(3) From date of acquisition, December 21, 1998.
(4) Excludes interest expense of Finance Businesses.

(1)包含公务机航空 EJA 自 1998 年 8 月 7 号之后的收益；
(2)包含明星家具自 1997 年 7 月 1 日之后的收益；
(3) 通用再保险 GeneRe 自收购之日 1998 年 12 月 21 日开始；
(4)利息费用扣除金融业务利息费用；

         You can be proud of our operating managers. They almost invariably deliver earnings that are at the very top of what conditions in their industries allow, meanwhile fortifying their businesses' long-term competitive strengths. In aggregate, they have created many billions of dollars of value for you.

大家绝对可以以我们旗下优秀的经理人为荣，他们几乎都能够在各自产业所能允许的情况下创造出最好的盈利，同时还能继续强化企业长期的竞争优势，总的来说，他们已为所有的股东创造出数十亿美元的价值。

         An example: In my 1994 letter, I reported on Ralph Schey's extraordinary performance at Scott Fetzer. Little did I realize that he was just warming up. Last year Scott Fetzer, operating with no leverage (except for a conservative level of debt in its finance subsidiary), earned a record $96.5 million after-tax on its $112 million net worth.

举例来说，在 1994 年的年报中，我曾经向各位提到 Ralph 在斯科特费泽的杰出表现，只是我万万没想到的是那时还只能算是他的热身阶段，去年在没有任何借款的情况下(除了其财务子公司的保守借款外)，靠着 1.12 亿美元的账面价值，竟缔造出创纪录的 9,650 万美元的惊人税后收益。

         Today, Berkshire has an unusually large number of individuals, such as Ralph, who are truly legends in their industries. Many of these joined us when we purchased their companies, but in recent years we have also identified a number of strong managers internally. We further expanded our corps of all-stars in an important way when we acquired General Re and EJA.

时至今日，伯克希尔有一大群杰出的明星经理人，就像 Ralph 等在各自的业务也都是一方传奇，其中很多人是在我们买下公司时，就已经加入了我们的行列，不过近来年我们也从内部发掘出不少人才，而最近在并购通用再保险与 EJA 之后，更让我们的梦幻队伍声势大振。

         Charlie and I have the easy jobs at Berkshire: We do very little except allocate capital. And, even then, we are not all that energetic. We have one excuse, though: In allocating capital, activity does not correlate with achievement. Indeed, in the fields of investments and acquisitions, frenetic behavior is often counterproductive. Therefore, Charlie and I mainly just wait for the phone to ring.

查理跟我在伯克希尔的工作其实很简单，主要的任务就是资金分配，即便是如此我们的态度也不是那么的积极，其中有一个原因在于，做的多不代表得到的多。事实上，在投资与并购领域，疯狂的行为往往会适得其反，也因此查理跟我通常都只是静静地等待电话铃响。

         Our managers, however, work very hard -- and it shows. Naturally, they want to be paid fairly for their efforts, but pay alone can't explain their extraordinary accomplishments. Instead, each is primarily motivated by a vision of just how far his or her business can go -- and by a desire to be the one who gets it there. Charlie and I thank them on your behalf and ours.

当然我们的经理人也非常的努力，且成效显著，而很自然的，他们也希望自己的努力可以得到公平的对待，只是金钱的回报并不足以解释他们为何能有这样杰出的成就，主要的动力还在于，每个经理人都想要了解自己所带领的企业到底能够发挥到怎样的境界。为此，查理跟我谨代表大家向他们致上十二万分的谢意。

                    * * * * * * * * * * * *

         Additional information about our various businesses is given on pages 39-53, where you will also find our segment earnings reported on a GAAP basis. In addition, on pages 65-71, we have rearranged Berkshire's financial data into four segments on a non-GAAP basis, a presentation that corresponds to the way Charlie and I think about the company.

                    * * * * * * * * * * * *

在年报中你可以找到依照一般公认会计原则编制，详细的各部门信息，另外你还可以找到经过重编，依照伯克希尔四大部门编列的信息，这是查理跟我认为最能够完整呈现伯克希尔现况的模式。

         Normally, we follow this section with one on "Look-Through" Earnings. Because the General Re acquisition occurred near yearend, though, neither a historical nor a pro-forma calculation of a 1998 number seems relevant. We will resume the look-through calculation in next year's report.

通常接下来这一段应该是报告完整透视收益，但是由于通用再保险的并购案发生的时点接近年底，所以不管是历史性或拟制性的 1998 年的盈利数字都已无关紧要，在明年的报告中，我们会再恢复完整透视收益的计算式。

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