Billionaire Buffett sees profits slump

Warren Buffett said his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, will report a roughly 10% drop in its first-quarter operating profit next week.

Mr Buffett offered a glimpse of Berkshire’s first-quarter earnings during the company’s shareholders’ meeting yesterday.

He said Berkshire will report an operating profit of about $1.7bn in the first quarter.

That is down from the $1.9bn in operating profit Berkshire reported one year ago.

Berkshire owns more than 60 subsidiaries embracing insurance, clothing, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms.