巴菲特致股东的信（2007年）⑥受监管的公用事业业务

Regulated Utility Business

受监管的公用事业业务

Berkshire has an 87.4% (diluted) interest in MidAmerican Energy Holdings, which owns a wide variety of utility operations. The largest of these are (1) Yorkshire Electricity and Northern Electric, whose 3.8 million electric customers make it the third largest distributor of electricity in the U.K.; (2) MidAmerican Energy, which serves 720,000 electric customers, primarily in Iowa; (3) Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power, serving about 1.7 million electric customers in six western states; and (4) Kern River and Northern Natural pipelines, which carry about 8% of the natural gas consumed in the U.S.

在伯克希尔拥有 87.4%股权的中美能源控股公司旗下，包含许多不同种类的公用事业类公司。其中最大的分别为：(1)约克郡电力与北方电力公司(Yorkshire Electricity,Northern Electric)，拥有 380 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 72 万电力用户；(3)太平洋电力与洛基山电力公司(Pacific Power,Rocky Mountain Power)，在美西 6 州拥有 170 万电力用户；(4)科恩河与北方天然管道公司(Kern River,Northern Natural pipelines)，供应全美 8%的天然气消耗量。

Our partners in ownership of MidAmerican are Walter Scott, and its two terrific managers, Dave Sokol and Greg Abel. It’s unimportant how many votes each party has; we make major moves only when we are unanimous in thinking them wise. Eight years of working with Dave, Greg and Walter have underscored my original belief: Berkshire couldn’t have better partners.

我们在中美能源控股的经营伙伴是 WalterScott，和两位非常杰出的经理人，DaveSokol 与 GregAbel。合作双方各自拥有多少股票投票权并不重要，我们只在理智思考并达成一致意见后，才会采取重大的行动。与Dave,Greg 和 Walter 共事的八年加强了我最初的信念：伯克希尔不可能再找到比他们更好的合伙人了。

Somewhat incongruously, MidAmerican also owns the second largest real estate brokerage firm in the U.S., HomeServices of America. This company operates through 20 locally-branded firms with 18,800 agents. Last year was a slow year for residential sales, and 2008 will probably be slower. We will continue, however, to acquire quality brokerage operations when they are available at sensible prices.

稍有不协调的是，中美能源拥有美国第二大房地产经纪商美国家庭服务公司 HomeServices，该公司通过 20家地区性品牌运营、拥有 18,800 个房动产经纪人员。去年是房屋销售放缓的一年，而 2008 年很有可能更缓慢。不过，我们将会继续以划算的价格继续收购优质的经纪公司。

Here are some key figures on MidAmerican’s operation:

以下是中美能源运营的一些关键数字：

We agreed to purchase 35,464,337 shares of MidAmerican at $35.05 per share in 1999, a year in which its per-share earnings were $2.59. Why the odd figure of $35.05? I originally decided the business was worth $35.00 per share to Berkshire. Now, I’m a “one-price” guy (remember See’s?) and for several days the investment bankers representing MidAmerican had no luck in getting me to increase Berkshire’s offer. But, finally, they caught me in a moment of weakness, and I caved, telling them I would go to $35.05. With that, I explained, they could tell their client they had wrung the last nickel out of me. At the time, it hurt.

1999 年，我们同意以每股 35.05 美元买下中美能源 35,464,337 股股票，其每股收益是 2.59 美元。为什么会是 35.05 美元这样一个奇怪的数字呢？对伯克希尔来说，我最初认为它的价值是每股 35 美元。到现在，我还是一个坚持"一口价"的人(还记得喜诗糖果的故事吗？)，在几天里代表中美能源的投资银行家并未成功打动我，让我提高伯克希尔的出价。但是，最后，他们抓住了我软弱的一刹那，我退让了，告诉他们，我将出价每股 35.05 美元。我解释说，他们可以告诉他们的客户，他们已经榨出了我身上最后一枚镍币。这的确切中当时的要害。

Later on, in 2002, Berkshire purchased 6,700,000 shares at $60 to help finance the acquisition of one of our pipelines. Lastly, in 2006, when MidAmerican bought PacifiCorp, we purchased 23,268,793 shares at $145 per share.

后来，在 2002 年，伯克希尔又以每股 60 美元购买了 670 万股股份，以提供资金帮助我们收购一个的管道供应公司。最后，在 2006 年，当中美能源买下太平洋公司时，我们又以每股 145 美元，买下 23,268,793 股中美能源的股票。(12.43 亿(PE13.5)+4.02 亿管道+33.74 亿太平洋(PE9.7)，合计 50.2 亿美元)

In 2007, MidAmerican earned $15.78 per share. However, 77¢ of that was non-recurring – a reduction in deferred tax at our British utility, resulting from a lowering of the U.K. corporate tax rate. So call normalized earnings $15.01 per share. And yes, I’m glad I wilted and offered the extra nickel.

在 2007 年，中美能源的每股收益是 15.78 美元。当然，其中有 0.77 美元是非经常性的——由于英国的公司税率降低，我们的英国公用事业公司递延税额减少了。所以，调整后经常性收益是每股 15.01 美元。是的，我很高兴，被这样榨干并挤出额外的镍币。