巴菲特致股东的信（2002年）⑤报告收益来源

Sources of Reported Earnings

The table that follows shows the main sources of Berkshire’s reported earnings. You will notice that “Purchase-Accounting Adjustments” dropped sharply in 2002, the reason being that GAAP rules changed then, no longer requiring the amortization of goodwill. This change increases our reported earnings, but has no effect on our economic earnings.

报告收益来源

下表显示伯克希尔报告收益的主要来源，大家或许已经发现，2002 年的购买法会计调整数大幅减少，其原因在于 GAAP 会计原则已经过修正，不再要求商誉必须摊销，此举将使得我们的帐面收益增加，只是这对实质的经济收益一点影响也没有。

Here’s a summary of major developments at our non-insurance businesses:

以下是 2002 年我们非保险事业相关的重点摘要：

•MidAmerican Energy’s earnings grew in 2002 and will likely do so again this year. Most of the increase, both present and expected, results from the acquisitions described earlier. To fund these, Berkshire purchased $1,273 million of MidAmerican junior debt (bringing our total holdings of these 11% obligations to $1,728 million) and also invested $402 million in a “common-equivalent” stock. We now own (on a fully-diluted basis) 80.2% of MidAmerican’s equity. MidAmerican’s financial statements are presented in detail on page 37.

•中美能源 2002 年的收益稳定成长，展望明年仍将维持这一态势，不论是现在还是将来，收益的成长主要来自于先前提过的并购案，中美能源为了取得并购的资金，已由伯克希尔买进该公司发行 12.73 亿美元的次顺位公司债(此举使得我们累计持有这种年息 11%的债权达到 17.28 亿美元)，另外我们还投资了约 4.02 亿美元的普通股，总计伯克希尔现在持有(在完全稀释基础下)中美能源 80.2%的股权，该公司详细的财务报表请参阅后文。

•Last year I told you of the problems at Dexter that led to a huge loss in our shoe business. Thanks to Frank Rooney and Jim Issler of H.H. Brown, the Dexter operation has been turned around. Despite the cost of unwinding our problems there, we earned $24 million in shoes last year, an upward swing of $70 million from 2001.

•去年我曾向各位报告，Dexter 鞋业是造成我们鞋业大幅亏损的元凶，在 H.H.Brown 鞋业的 FrankRooney 及JimIssler 的努力下，现在 Dexter 的营运已回归正轨，尽管解决问题耗费了不少成本，但去年鞋业仍然赚了 2400万美元的利润，较 2001 年的亏损，大幅增加了 7000 万美元。

Randy Watson at Justin also contributed to this improvement, increasing margins significantly while trimming invested capital. Shoes are a tough business, but we have terrific managers and believe that in the future we will earn reasonable returns on the capital we employ in this operation.

主管 Justin 的 RandyWatson 也为这一次转变贡献良多，在缩减资本开支规模的同时，大幅提高了利润率。鞋业是一项艰困产业，好在我们拥有最优秀的经理人，而且我也相信在未来我们一定能够赚取合理的投资回报。

•In a so-so year for home-furnishing and jewelry retailers, our operations did well. Among our eight retailing operations, the best performer was Homemaker’s in Des Moines. There, the talented Merschman family achieved outstanding gains in both sales and profits.

•去年对于家具及珠宝零售业来说，算是平平的一年，但我们旗下事业的表现却相当不错，在我们旗下八家公司当中，表现最好的当属位于 DesMoins 的美国家庭服务公司 HomeServices，才华洋溢的 Merschman 家族缔造了优异的营业额与获利记录。

Nebraska Furniture Mart will open a new blockbuster store in metropolitan Kansas City in August. With 450,000 square feet of retail space, it could well produce the second largest volume of any furniture store in the country – the Omaha operation being the national champion. I hope Berkshire shareholders in the Kansas City area will come out for the opening (and keep coming).

内布拉斯加家具商场 NFM 将于今年八月在 Kansas 开立一家全新的大型购物中心，总面积高达 45 万平方英尺，它将成为全美单店营业额第二位的家具店，仅次于其位于奥马哈的旗舰店，我希望住在堪萨斯地区的伯克希尔股东能够一起莅临开幕剪彩(当然以后更要继续惠顾)。

•Our home and construction-related businesses – Acme Brick, Benjamin Moore Paint, Johns-Manville, MiTek and Shaw – delivered $941 million of pre-tax earnings last year. Of particular significance was Shaw’s gain from $292 million in 2001 to $424 million. Bob Shaw and Julian Saul are terrific operators. Carpet prices increased only 1% last year, but Shaw’s productivity gains and excellent expense control delivered significantly improved margins.

•我们住宅建筑相关业务：Acme 砖块、Benjamin 油漆、JohnsManville 屋面材料、MiTek 房梁材料及 Shaw地毯等业务，去年总计贡献了 9.41 亿美元的税前收益，其中要特别提到的是 Shaw 地毯的表现，其税前收益从2001 年的 2.92 亿美元大幅提高到 2002 年的 4.24 亿美元，BobShaw 及 JulianSaul 堪称经营高手，去年地毯的价格涨幅平均不过 1%，但 Shaw 本身的生产力提升以及绝佳的成本控管使得该公司的毛利率依然大幅提高。

We cherish cost-consciousness at Berkshire. Our model is the widow who went to the local newspaper to place an obituary notice. Told there was a 25-cents-a-word charge, she requested “Fred Brown died.” She was then informed there was a seven-word minimum. “Okay” the bereaved woman replied, “make it ‘Fred Brown died, golf clubs for sale’.”

在伯克希尔我们特别强调成本意识，我们的模范是一位准备刊登丈夫讣文的寡妇，报社告诉她每登一个字要 25 美分，于是她要求刊登「Fred 死了」，但报社又表示每则至少要七个字，于是这位哀伤的妇人回复到，那就改为「Fred死了，售高尔夫会员卡」。

•Earnings from flight services increased last year – but only because we realized a special pre-tax gain of $60 million from the sale of our 50% interest in FlightSafety Boeing. Without this gain, earnings from our training business would have fallen slightly in concert with the slowdown in business-aviation activity. FlightSafety training continues to be the gold standard for the industry, and we expect growth in the years to come.

•航空服务去年的收益略微成长，但那纯粹是因为我们出售持股 50%的飞安-波音公司股权所获得 6000 万美元特别收益的关系，扣除这项收益，我们飞行员训练业务的收益略微下滑，主要反应商务飞行业务的下滑，飞安公司的训练业务依旧是这个产业的最高标准，而我们预期未来几年将会持续成长。

At NetJets, our fractional-ownership operation, we are the runaway leader of the four-company field. FAA records indicate that our industry share in 2002 was 75%, meaning that clients purchased or leased planes from us that were valued at triple those recorded by our three competitors combined. Last year, our fleet flew 132.7 million nautical miles, taking clients to 130 countries.

至于公务机部分所有权 NetJets的营运，我们在这行大幅领先市场上其它三家同业，FAA 的记录显示我们 2002 年的市场占有率高达 75%，这代表客户购买或租赁我们飞机的总金额是其它三家同业的三倍，去年我们的机队飞行里程数高达 1.327 亿海里，搭载客户到全世界 130 个国家。

Our preeminence is directly attributable to Rich Santulli, NetJets’ CEO. He invented the business in 1986 and ever since has exhibited an unbending devotion to the highest levels of service, safety and security. Rich, Charlie and I insist on planes (and personnel) worthy of carrying our own families – because they regularly do.

我们的优势完全要归功于 Netjets 的 CEO 理查德·桑图里 RichSantulli，他在 1986 年开创这个行业，至此之后，他便展现不折不挠的决心提供最顶级、最安全的服务，Rich、查理跟我本人一向坚持必须培养足堪信赖的机队与机组人员，因为我们自己本身的家人就经常使用搭乘。

Though NetJets revenues set a record in 2002, the company again lost money. A small profit in the U.S. was more than offset by losses in Europe. Overall, the fractional-ownership industry lost significant sums last year, and that is almost certain to be the outcome in 2003 as well. The bald fact is that airplanes are costly to operate.

虽然 NetJets 的营业额在 2002 年创下新高，但该公司仍然处于亏损状态，美国地区确有小赚但仍抵不过欧洲地区的亏损，总的来说，专机所有权这行业在去年亏了不少钱，而可以肯定的是 2003 年大概也是这样的光景，养机队实在是一项很沉重的负担。

Over time, this economic reality should work to our advantage, given that for a great many companies, private aircraft are an essential business tool. And for most of these companies, NetJets makes compelling sense as either a primary or supplementary supplier of the aircraft they need.

就长期而言，经济现实终将站在我们这一边，主要是考量私人专机仍是许多大企业必备的商务工具，而对于这些公司来说，NetJets 无疑是他们最主要或次要的飞机供应厂商。

Many businesses could save millions of dollars annually by flying with us. Indeed, the yearly savings at some large companies could exceed $10 million. Equally important, these companies would actually increase their operational capabilities by using us. A fractional ownership of a single NetJets plane allows a client to have several planes in the air simultaneously. Additionally, through the interchange arrangement we make available, an owner of an interest in one plane can fly any of 12 other models, using whatever plane makes most sense for a mission. (One of my sisters owns a fraction of a Falcon 2000, which she uses for trips to Hawaii, but – exhibiting the Buffett gene – she interchanges to a more economical Citation Excel for short trips in the U.S.)

利用我们的飞机，很多公司每年都可以轻易省下数百万美元的开支，有些大公司节省的金额甚至可以数千万美元，更重要的是，搭配我们的飞机，这些公司可以大幅增加自己的飞机调度弹性，只要持有一小部分的飞机所有权，客户甚至可以同时使用好几架飞机，此外，经由我们提供的机队组合，一位客户可以视状况自由选择 12 种不同机型，(我有一个姐姐拥有一架 Falcon2000部分所有权，她经常利用它往来夏威夷与美国本土之间，但由于血液里同样拥有巴菲特家族的基因，她也经常转换选用比较经济的 CitationExcel 在美国境内短程的旅行)。

The roster of NetJets users confirms the advantages we offer major businesses. Take General Electric, for example. It has a large fleet of its own but also has an unsurpassed knowledge of how to utilize aircraft effectively and economically. And it is our largest customer.

NetJets 的用户名单证明了我们能够提供给大企业的种种好处，以通用电气为例，由于其公司本身就养着庞大的机队，因此相当了解应该如何有效率地运用其飞机，事实上，它正是我们的最大客户。

•Our finance and financial products line covers a variety of operations, among them certain activities in high-grade fixed-income securities that proved highly profitable in 2002. Earnings in this arena will probably continue for a while, but are certain to decrease – and perhaps disappear – in time.

•我们的财务及金融产品部门涵盖了各式各样的营运，其中包含一些信用评级很高的固定收益债券，这类交易在 2002 年的获利特别高，我们预期这方面的高收益还会持续一阵子，但就长期而言，这部分的收益终究会日渐下滑，甚至消失殆尽。

This category also includes a highly satisfactory – but rapidly diminishing – income stream from our Berkadia investment in Finova (described in last year’s report). Our partner, Leucadia National Corp., has managed this operation with great skill, willingly doing far more than its share of the heavy lifting. I like this division of labor and hope to join with Leucadia in future transactions.

这其中还包括我们 Berkadia 在 Finova 的投资，回报特别令人满意，但现金流也以极快速度消失(这项交易在去年的年报就详述过)，我们的合资伙伴 LeucadiaNational 公司以相当高超的技巧来管理这项业务，并极愿分担远超过其份的重担，我个人也很愿意将这重担分给它们，并期望在将来可以与 Leucadia 共同参与更多的交易。

On the minus side, the Finance line also includes the operations of General Re Securities, a derivatives and trading business. This entity lost $173 million pre-tax last year, a result that, in part, is a belated acknowledgment of faulty, albeit standard, accounting it used in earlier periods. Derivatives, in fact, deserve an extensive look, both in respect to the accounting their users employ and to the problems they may pose for both individual companies and our economy.

从负面的角度来看，财务金融部门的业务也包含了通用再保险证券，这是衍生性金融商品的买卖业务，这个业务去年税前亏损了 1.73 亿美元，这个成绩其中也包含了一部分迟迟未认列的错误损失，虽然当时依照一般公认会计原则，那样的做法相当正常，事实上对于衍生性金融商品，人们必须施以特别的关照，不管是其所运用的会计原则或者它对个别公司或整个经济社会可能造成的潜在问题。