OMAHA, Neb., April 30 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett tried to defuse any lingering investor expectations that his Berkshire Hathaway Inc would outperform other companies by as much as it has in the past.
'We know we can't do remotely as well in the future as we did in the past,' Buffett said on Saturday at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
He said he still has a preference for large acquisitions, but that some of Berkshire's roughly 80 operating companies had already had several 'bolt-on' acquisitions this year.
Vice Chairman Charlie Munger added: 'I think we'll do pretty well compared to companies here in the United States.'
Since the end of February 2009, roughly the stock market trough following the prior year's financial crisis, Berkshire Class A shares have risen about 59 percent, lagging the roughly 86 percent gain in the Standard & Poor's 500.
Buffett prefers to focus on Berkshire's book value per share, which is up an annualized 20.2 percent from 1965 to 2010, according to the company. The S&P 500 was up an annualized 9.4 percent including dividends, Berkshire said.
(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Additional reporting and writing by Jonathan Stempel in New York; ben.berkowitz@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6132; Reuters Messaging: ben.berkowitz.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: BERKSHIRE/GROWTH
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'We know we can't do remotely as well in the future as we did in the past,' Buffett said on Saturday at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
He said he still has a preference for large acquisitions, but that some of Berkshire's roughly 80 operating companies had already had several 'bolt-on' acquisitions this year.
Vice Chairman Charlie Munger added: 'I think we'll do pretty well compared to companies here in the United States.'
Since the end of February 2009, roughly the stock market trough following the prior year's financial crisis, Berkshire Class A shares have risen about 59 percent, lagging the roughly 86 percent gain in the Standard & Poor's 500.
Buffett prefers to focus on Berkshire's book value per share, which is up an annualized 20.2 percent from 1965 to 2010, according to the company. The S&P 500 was up an annualized 9.4 percent including dividends, Berkshire said.
(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Additional reporting and writing by Jonathan Stempel in New York; ben.berkowitz@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6132; Reuters Messaging: ben.berkowitz.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: BERKSHIRE/GROWTH
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.