巴菲特致股东的信（2012年）③受管制的资本密集型业务

Regulated, Capital-Intensive Businesses

受管制的资本密集型业务

We have two major operations, BNSF and MidAmerican Energy, that have important common characteristics distinguishing them from our other businesses. Consequently, we assign them their own section in this letter and split out their combined financial statistics in our GAAP balance sheet and income statement.

这个板块主要有两家公司，BNSF 铁路和中美能源，它们具有区别于我们其他业务的重要共同特点。所以，我们在这里把它们单独归为一类进行讨论，并在我们的 GAAP 资产负债和损益报表中单独列示它们的财务数据。

A key characteristic of both companies is their huge investment in very long-lived, regulated assets, with these partially funded by large amounts of long-term debt that is not guaranteed by Berkshire. Our credit is in fact not needed because each business has earning power that even under terrible conditions amply covers its interest requirements. In last year’s tepid economy, for example, BNSF’s interest coverage was 9.6x. (Our definition of coverage is pre-tax earnings/interest, not EBITDA/interest, a commonly-used measure we view as deeply flawed.) At MidAmerican, meanwhile, two key factors ensure its ability to service debt under all circumstances: the company’s recession-resistant earnings, which result from our exclusively offering an essential service, and its great diversity of earnings streams, which shield it from being seriously harmed by any single regulatory body.

两家公司的一个重要特征是，它们都对受监管的长期资产进行了巨额投资，这些资产部分资金来自伯克希尔不提供担保的大额长期债务。它们实际上并不需要我们的信用支持，因为它们具备良好的盈利能力，即使在恶劣的经济环境下也能覆盖它们的债务利息。比如在去年疲软的经济中，BNSF 的利息覆盖倍数是 9.6 倍。(利息覆盖倍数=税前收益/利息，而不是 EBITDA/利息，我们认为 EBITDA 是一个被普遍使用的错误指标)。与此同时，中美能源有两个因素确保其在各种情形下偿还本息的能力：抵抗周期的盈利能力(这是我们垄断性提供基本服务的结果)，以及多元化的收益来源(这保护它免受某一监管机构的严重伤害)。

Every day, our two subsidiaries power the American economy in major ways:

每天，我们的这两家公司都在主要领域为美国经济提供动力：

• BNSF carries about 15% (measured by ton-miles) of all inter-city freight, whether it is transported by truck, rail, water, air, or pipeline. Indeed, we move more ton-miles of goods than anyone else, a fact making BNSF the most important artery in our economy’s circulatory system.

1，BNSF 承担了全美 15%(以吨英里衡量)的城际间货运量，包括公路、铁路、水路、航空以及管道运输。事实上，我们的运输量超过其他任何公司，这个事实使得 BNSF 成为美国经济循环系统最重要的大动脉。

BNSF also moves its cargo in an extraordinarily fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly way, carrying a ton of freight about 500 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel. Trucks taking on the same job guzzle about four times as much fuel.

BNSF 还以一种非常节能和环保的方式运输货物，一加仑柴油可以运送一吨货物至 500 英里。卡车实现同样的运力大约要使用 4 倍的能源。

• MidAmerican’s electric utilities serve regulated retail customers in ten states. Only one utility holding company serves more states. In addition, we are the leader in renewables: first, from a standing start nine years ago, we now account for 6% of the country’s wind generation capacity. Second, when we complete three projects now under construction, we will own about 14% of U.S. solar-generation capacity.

2，中美能源的电力设施为 10 个州的零售客户提供服务。只有一家公用事业控股公司为多个州服务。另外，我们是可再生能源方面的领导者：第一，9 年前开始稳定起步，目前已占全国风力装机容量的 6%。第二，在建的三个项目完成后，我们将占有全美太阳能装机容量的 14%。

Projects like these require huge capital investments. Upon completion, indeed, our renewables portfolio will have cost $13 billion. We relish making such commitments if they promise reasonable returns – and on that front, we put a large amount of trust in future regulation.

类似的项目需要巨额的资本投资。实际上完工后，我们的可再生能源项目将耗资 130 亿美元。我们进行这样的投资是因为监管承诺提供合理的回报——在这方面，我们给予了未来的监管极大的信任。

Our confidence is justified both by our past experience and by the knowledge that society will forever need massive investment in both transportation and energy. It is in the self-interest of governments to treat capital providers in a manner that will ensure the continued flow of funds to essential projects. And it is in our self-interest to conduct our operations in a manner that earns the approval of our regulators and the people they represent.

我们的信心来源于过往的经验，以及社会在交通和能源方面会一直需要大量投资的认识。政府为了自己的利益将会合理对待资本提供者，以确保资金持续流向重要的基础项目。从我们自身的利益出发，我们愿意去争取监管机构和它们所代表的人民的认可和批准。

Our managers must think today of what the country will need far down the road. Energy and transportation projects can take many years to come to fruition; a growing country simply can’t afford to get behind the curve.

我们的经理人今天必须思考这个国家未来需要什么。能源和交通项目需要很多年才能见到效益；但一个不断增长的经济体无法承受基础设施落后的代价。

We have been doing our part to make sure that doesn’t happen. Whatever you may have heard about our country’s crumbling infrastructure in no way applies to BNSF or railroads generally. America’s rail system has never been in better shape, a consequence of huge investments by the industry. We are not, however, resting on our laurels: BNSF will spend about $4 billion on the railroad in 2013, roughly double its depreciation charge and more than any railroad has spent in a single year.

我们一直在尽自己一份力量来确保这种情况不会发生。大家可能听到过我们国家破败的基础设施之类的言论，但对 BNSF 和多数的铁路来说都不是这样。美国的铁路系统正处于一个不能更好的状态，这是行业巨大投资的结果，但我们没有满足于现状：BNSF 将会在 2013 年投入 40 亿美元，大约是其折旧费用的 2 倍，比任何铁路在一年内投入的都要多。

In Matt Rose, at BNSF, and Greg Abel, at MidAmerican, we have two outstanding CEOs. They are extraordinary managers who have developed businesses that serve both their customers and owners well. Each has my gratitude and each deserves yours. Here are the key figures for their businesses:

BNSF 铁路的 Matt Rose 和中美能源的 Greg Abel，是我们两位杰出的 CEO。他们是杰出的管理者，他们运营的业务为客户提供了良好服务，为股东创造良好的回报。我非常感谢他们，他们都值得你的感激。下面是他们业务的关键数据：

Sharp-eyed readers will notice an incongruity in the MidAmerican earnings tabulation. What in the world is HomeServices, a real estate brokerage operation, doing in a section entitled “Regulated, Capital-Intensive Businesses?” Well, its ownership came with MidAmerican when we bought control of that company in 2000. At that time, I focused on MidAmerican’s utility operations and barely noticed HomeServices, which then owned only a few real estate brokerage companies.

眼尖的读者可能已经注意到中美能源的利润表格中不协调之处。家庭服务公司(HomeServices)怎么会被划分到"受管制的资本密集的业务"中？实际上在 2000 年我们收购中美能源控制权的时候，它的所有权就在公司中。那时我关注于中美能源的公用事业运营，没有关注到家庭服务公司，它当时只拥有少数几家房地产经纪公司。

Since then, however, the company has regularly added residential brokers – three in 2012 – and now has about 16,000 agents in a string of major U.S. cities. (Our real estate brokerage companies are listed on page 107.) In 2012, our agents participated in $42 billion of home sales, up 33% from 2011.

然而从那以后，住宅服务公司就不断地增加经纪公司，2012 年又增加了 3 家，现在在美国主要的大城市拥有大约 1.6万名经纪人。2012 年，我们的经纪人参与的房屋销售交易达 420 亿美元，比 2011 年增长 33%。

Additionally, HomeServices last year purchased 67% of the Prudential and Real Living franchise operations, which together license 544 brokerage companies throughout the country and receive a small royalty on their sales. We have an arrangement to purchase the balance of those operations within five years. In the coming years, we will gradually rebrand both our franchisees and the franchise firms we own as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.

另外，家庭服务公司去年购买了 Prudential 和 Real Living 67%的特许权业务，它们在全国一共向 544 家经纪公司发放了许可证，并从销售中获得了一小部分特许费。我们计划 5 年内收购剩余的股份。今年，我们将逐步把特许加盟商和特许权经营公司合并为伯克希尔家庭服务公司(BHHS)。即便在经济萧条时期，

Ron Peltier has done an outstanding job in managing HomeServices during a depressed period. Now, as the housing market continues to strengthen, we expect earnings to rise significantly.

Ron Peltier 在管理住房经纪公司上依然工作出色。现在，房地产市场持续走强，我们预计收益将会有显著的提升。