Berkshire Hathaway operating profit nearly doubled in the third quarter

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), the conglomerate led by billionaire Warren Buffett, said Saturday that its quarterly operating income had almost doubled from the previous year due to strong insurance results and lower taxes.

The Company's significant insurance activities were aided by the reduction in the estimated property and casualty insurance liabilities of previous years and the reduction of taxes. The previous year, it included significant losses due to three US hurricanes and an earthquake in Mexico.

Operating profit in the second quarter reached $ 6.88 billion, against $ 3.44 billion a year earlier, which is higher than the $ 6.11 billion expected by Wall Street.

Revenues from insurance sales were $ 441 million in the third quarter compared to a loss of $ 1.4 billion for the same period last year.

"This is absolutely one of the biggest quarterly results ever published by any US company," said Bill Smead, chief executive of Berkshire shareholder, Seattle-based Smead Capital Management.

Smead said Buffett told investors that tax policy changes would help Berkshire and bring benefits to the company.