Berkshire Hathaway’s Profit Rises 51%

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., controlled by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, said first-quarter profit rose 51% as it boosted prices at its insurance businesses.

Net income rose to $916 million, or $598 a share, from $606 million, or $397, a year ago. Earnings per share, excluding gains from sales of securities, were $534, compared with estimates of $446.50 in an analyst survey by Thomson Financial/First Call. Investment gains fell to $98 million from $144 million a year ago.

Berkshire’s insurance operations--including General Re Corp., the third-largest reinsurer, and Geico Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. car insurer--posted a $20-million underwriting profit in the first quarter as they raised prices and had lower-than-expected claims, Buffett said earlier this week. General Re’s $88-million underwriting loss narrowed from $126 million.

“I’d be much happier if there weren’t an underwriting loss at General Re,” said Peter “Tony” Russ, a money manager at Value Architects, which manages $85million and owns about $20 million of Berkshire shares.

The first quarter had the lowest amount of catastrophe losses for insurers in 20 years, Russ said.

Berkshire had underwriting losses of more than $3 billion since paying $17 billion for General Re in December 1998. Buffett has said General Re paid a price for allowing its underwriting discipline to erode in the face of price competition.

Shares of Berkshire reached a 52-week high of $76,000, before falling $200 to $75,700 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday before the announcement.