Berkshire Hathaway on Friday said third-quarter profit fell 24 percent from a year earlier, when it recorded a large one-time gain, though acquisitions helped boost operating profit at the conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett.
The company also suggested it may have held onto its stake during the quarter in Wells Fargo, which has been embroiled in a scandal over its creation of unauthorized customer accounts. Berkshire is the bank's largest shareholder.
Quarterly net income for Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire fell to $7.2 billion, or $4,379 per Class A share, from $9.43 billion, or $5,737 per Class A share, a year earlier.
Operating profit rose 7 percent to $4.85 billion, or $2,951 per share, from $4.55 billion, or $2,769 per share, but fell short of the average $3,058.10 per share forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Last year's results included a $4.4 billion gain related to the food company Kraft Heinz, in which Berkshire still owns a 26.8 percent stake.
This year's results included a $1.6 billion gain when Mars Inc bought Berkshire's preferred stock investment in its Wrigley chewing gum business.
Revenue was nearly unchanged at $59.1 billion. Book value per share, Buffett's preferred measure of growth, rose 2.4 percent from the end of June to $163,783.
Berkshire owns roughly 90 businesses including Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, Dairy Queen ice cream and Fruit of the Loom underwear, and in January paid $32.1 billion for aircraft and industrial parts maker Precision Castparts.
It also owns dozens of stocks including Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola and International Business Machines.
Buffett has said he would talk this month about the Wells Fargo scandal, which began on Sept. 8 when the bank agreed to pay $185 million to settle charges by regulators and a Los Angeles prosecutor.
Berkshire profit falls; appears to keep Wells Fargo stake
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