巴菲特致股东的信（2024年）④去年的业绩

Last Year's Performance

去年的业绩

In 2024, Berkshire did better than I expected though 53% of our 189 operating businesses reported a decline in earnings. We were aided by a predictable large gain in investment income as Treasury Bill yields improved and we substantially increased our holdings of these highly-liquid short-term securities.

2024年，伯克希尔的表现超出了我的预期，尽管我们189家运营子公司中有53%的盈利出现了下降。助力来自投资收入可预期的大幅增长——国库券收益率走高，而我们又大幅增持了这些高流动性的短期证券。

Our insurance business also delivered a major increase in earnings, led by the performance of GEICO. In five years, Todd Combs has reshaped GEICO in a major way, increasing efficiency and bringing underwriting practices up to date. GEICO was a long-held gem that needed major repolishing, and Todd has worked tirelessly in getting the job done. Though not yet complete, the 2024 improvement was spectacular.

我们的保险业务同样贡献了盈利的大幅提升，主要归功于盖可保险的出色表现。过去五年里，托德·库姆斯 (Todd Combs) 对盖可保险进行了大刀阔斧的改革，提升了效率，使承保操作跟上了时代。盖可保险是我们长期持有的一颗宝石，确实需要重新打磨一番，而托德一直在不知疲倦地完成这项工作。虽然尚未全部完工，但2024年的改善已十分惊艳。

In general, property-casualty (“P/C”) insurance pricing strengthened during 2024, reflecting a major increase in damage from convective storms. Climate change may have been announcing its arrival. However, no “monster” event occurred during 2024. Someday, any day, a truly staggering insurance loss will occur – and there is no guarantee that there will be only one per annum.

总体而言，2024年财产意外险（"P/C"）的定价有所走强，反映出对流风暴造成的损失大幅增加。气候变化也许正在宣告它的到来。然而，2024年并未发生"巨灾"级别的事件。总有一天，任何一天，都可能发生真正令人震惊的保险损失——而且无法保证一年只发生一次。

The P/C business is so central to Berkshire that it warrants a further discussion that appears later in this letter.

财产意外险业务对伯克希尔至关重要，因此值得在本信后半部分做进一步的讨论。

Berkshire’s railroad and utility operations, our two largest businesses outside of insurance, improved their aggregate earnings. Both, however, have much left to accomplish.

伯克希尔的铁路和公用事业运营——这是我们除保险以外规模最大的两块业务——其合计盈利有所改善。不过，两者都还有很多工作要做。

Late in the year we increased our ownership of the utility operation from about 92% to 100% at a cost of roughly $3.9 billion, of which $2.9 billion was paid in cash with a balance in Berkshire “B” shares.

年末，我们将公用事业业务的持股比例从约92%提高到100%，成本约为39亿美元，其中29亿美元以现金支付，余额以伯克希尔B类股支付。

All told, we recorded operating earnings of $47.4 billion in 2024. We regularly – endlessly, some readers may groan – emphasize this measure rather than the GAAP-mandated earnings that are reported on page K-68.

总计来看，我们在2024年录得了经营收益 474亿美元。我们总是在强调这个指标而非K-68页上按通用会计准则 (GAAP) 报告的收益——有些读者可能会抱怨我们没完没了地说这件事。

Our measure excludes capital gains or losses on the stocks and bonds we own, whether realized or unrealized. Over time, we think it highly likely that gains will prevail – why else would we buy these securities? – though the year-by-year numbers will swing wildly and unpredictably. Our horizon for such commitments is almost always far longer than a single year. In many, our thinking involves decades. These long-termers are the purchases that sometimes make the cash register ring like church bells.

我们的指标不包括我们持有的股票和债券的资本利得或损失，无论是已实现的还是未实现的。长期来看，我们认为收益很可能占主导地位——否则我们为什么要买这些证券呢？——但逐年的数字会剧烈波动且无法预测。我们在这类投资上的持有期限几乎总是远超一年。很多时候，我们考虑的是几十年。正是这些长期投资，有时能让收银机响起教堂钟声般的叮当声。

Here’s a breakdown of the 2023-24 earnings as we see them. All calculations are after depreciation, amortization and income tax. EBITDA, a flawed favorite of Wall Street, is not for us.

以下是我们所看到的2023-2024年盈利构成。所有数据均扣除了折旧、摊销和所得税。华尔街偏爱的EBITDA（息税折旧摊销前利润）有其缺陷，不适合我们。