巴菲特致股东的信（2003年）⑨公用事业

Regulated Utility Businesses

公用事业

Through MidAmerican Energy Holdings, we own an 80.5% (fully diluted) interest in a wide variety of utility operations. The largest are (1) Yorkshire Electricity and Northern Electric, whose 3.7 million electric customers make it the third largest distributor of electricity in the U.K.; (2) MidAmerican Energy, which serves 689,000 electric customers in Iowa and; (3) Kern River and Northern Natural pipelines, which carry 7.8% of the natural gas transported in the United States.

通过中美能源控股公司，我们持有众多公用事业 80.5%(按完全稀释基础)的权益，其中主要的项目包括：(1)约克郡电力与北方电力公司(Yorkshire Electricity,Northern Electric)，拥有 370 万电力用户，为英国第三大的电力分销商；(2)中美能源(MidAmerican Energy)，在爱荷华州拥有 68.9 万电力用户；(3)科恩河与北方天然管道公司(Kern River,Northern Natural pipelines)，两条天然气输送管道运输全美 7.8%的天然气。

Berkshire has three partners, who own the remaining 19.5%: Dave Sokol and Greg Abel, the brilliant managers of the business, and Walter Scott, a long-time friend of mine who introduced me to the company. Because MidAmerican is subject to the Public Utility Holding Company Act (“PUHCA”), Berkshire’s voting interest is limited to 9.9%. Walter has the controlling vote.

剩下的 19.5%权益则由伯克希尔三位合作伙伴所持有，分别是 DaveSokol 及 GregAbel，他们是中美能源杰出的专业经理人，另外一位是 WalterScott，他是我个人长期的好友，也是他引荐我投资这家公司的，由于中美能源公司受限于公用事业控股公司法(PUHCA)的规定，限制伯克希尔的投票权最高只能达到 9.9%，所以 Walter 他拥有绝对的控制权。

Our limited voting interest forces us to account for MidAmerican in our financial statements in an abbreviated manner. Instead of our fully including its assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses in our statements, we record only a one-line entry in both our balance sheet and income account. It’s likely that some day, perhaps soon, either PUHCA will be repealed or accounting rules will change. Berkshire’s consolidated figures would then take in all of MidAmerican, including the substantial debt it utilizes.

受限的投票权使得我们仅能以相当简略的方式将美中能源的财务数字列入财务报表，而无法将该公司所有的资产负债以及营收损益列入伯克希尔报表，依照会计原则我们只能按投资比例认列该公司的投资金额及损益，或许在不久的将来，PUHCA 会被取消或是会计原则有重大改变，那么届时中美能源所有的财务数字就会被列入伯克希尔的合并报表之中，当然也包含其大量的融资负债在内。

The size of this debt (which is not now, nor will it be, an obligation of Berkshire) is entirely appropriate. MidAmerican’s diverse and stable utility operations assure that, even under harsh economic conditions, aggregate earnings will be ample to very comfortably service all debt.

中美能源债务的规模(目前不是，以后也不会是伯克希尔的责任)还算是适当，其多元化且稳定的公用事业营运将可以确保即使在最严峻的经济情势下，都能够累积足够的收益来支应所有的债务。

At yearend, $1.578 billion of MidAmerican’s most junior debt was payable to Berkshire. This debt has allowed acquisitions to be financed without our three partners needing to increase their already substantial investments in MidAmerican. By charging 11% interest, Berkshire is compensated fairly for putting up the funds needed for purchases, while our partners are spared dilution of their equity interests.

截至年底，在中美能源大部分的次顺位债券中，15.78 亿美元是对伯克希尔的债务，这笔债务让中美能源在进行并购时，可以不必再向其它三位已投入大笔资金的主要大股东掏钱(管理层三人)，而通过收取 11%的利息，伯克希尔获得了提供资金所应得的合理回报，此外其它三位股东也免于稀释个人在这家公司的持股比例。

MidAmerican also owns a significant non-utility business, Home Services of America, the second largest real estate broker in the country. Unlike our utility operations, this business is highly cyclical, but nevertheless one we view enthusiastically. We have an exceptional manager, Ron Peltier, who, through both his acquisition and operational skills, is building a brokerage powerhouse.

中美能源另外还拥有一些非公用事业，那就是全美第二大不动产经纪商美国家庭服务公司 Home Services，不同于公用事业，这行业的周期波动相当的大，但我们仍然对其抱予热烈的期望，我们拥有一位优异的经理人RonPeltier，通过其经营及并购长才，正逐渐建立起一个房屋经纪王国。

Last year, Home Services participated in $48.6 billion of transactions, a gain of $11.7 billion from 2002. About 23% of the increase came from four acquisitions made during the year. Through our 16 brokerage firms – all of which retain their local identities – we employ 16,343 brokers in 16 states. Home Services is almost certain to grow substantially in the next decade as we continue to acquire leading localized operations.

去年 HomeServices 公司总计参与了 486 亿美元的房屋交易案，较 2002 年又大大地成长了 117 亿，其中23%的成长来自于四件新的并购案，经由全美各地 16 个中介公司，他们全都保留原有中介公司名称，我们在 16个州聘雇了 16343 位销售人员，在未来十年，公司仍将通过并购的方式继续大幅成长。

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Here’s a tidbit for fans of free enterprise. On March 31, 1990, the day electric utilities in the U.K. were denationalized, Northern and Yorkshire had 6,800 employees in functions these companies continue today to perform. Now they employ 2,539. Yet the companies are serving about the same number of customers as when they were government owned and are distributing more electricity.

这里有一则相信所有企业自由化支持者都会珍惜的宝贵新闻，1990 年 3 月 1 日，英国的国营电力事业正式民营化，当时北方电力与约克郡电力总共有 6800 名员工，时至今日，在营运规模丝毫未缩减的情况下，员工降为2539 人，客户数与国营时相当，而输送的电力甚至比以往更多。

This is not, it should be noted, a triumph of deregulation. Prices and earnings continue to be regulated in a fair manner by the government, just as they should be. It is a victory, however, for those who believe that profit-motivated managers, even though they recognize that the benefits will largely flow to customers, will find efficiencies that government never will.

必须强调的是这并非是自由化的胜利，价格以及收益目前仍受到政府的公平管制，这点合情合理，这个胜利系属于那些相信以营利为导向的经理人，虽然所节省的收益大都回馈到客户身上，但所能展现出效率是以往政府自营时所不具备的。

Here are some key figures on MidAmerican’s operations:

以下是中美能源运营的一些关键数据: