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1、BerkshireHathawayLetter1975TotheStockholdersofBerkshireHathawayInc.:Lastyear,whendiscussingtheprospectsfor1975,westated“theoutlookfor1975isnotencouraging.”Thisforecastprovedtobedistressinglyaccurate.Ouroperatingearningsfor1975were$6,713,592,or$6.85pershare,producingareturnonbeginningshareholders’equ
2、ityof7.6%.Thisisthelowestreturnonequityexperiencedsince1967.Furthermore,asexplainedlaterinthisletter,alargesegmentoftheseearningsresultedfromFederalincometaxrefundswhichwillnotbeavailabletoassistperformancein1976.Onbalance,however,currenttrendsindicateasomewhatbrighter1976.Operationsandprospectswill
3、bediscussedingreaterdetailbelow,underspecificindustrytitles.Ourexpectationisthatsignificantlybetterresultsintextiles,earningsaddedfromrecentacquisitions,anincreaseinequityinearningsofBlueChipStampsresultingfromanenlargedownershipinterest,andatleastamoderateimprovementininsuranceunderwritingresultswi
4、llmorethanoffsetotherpossiblenegativestoproducegreaterearningsin1976.Themajorvariable—andbyfarthemostdifficulttopredictwithanyfeelingofconfidence—istheinsuranceunderwritingresult.Presentverytentativeindicationsarethatunderwritingimprovementisinprospect.Ifsuchimprovementismoderate,ouroverallgaininear
5、ningsin1976likewisewillprovemoderate.Moresignificantunderwritingimprovementcouldgiveusamajorgaininearnings.TextileOperationsDuringthefirsthalfof1975salesoftextileproductswereextremelydepressed,resultinginmajorproductioncurtailments.Operationsranatasignificantloss,withemploymentdownasmuchas53%fromaye
6、arearlier.Incontrastwithpreviouscyclicalslumps,however,mosttextileproducersquicklyreducedproductiontomatchincomingorders,thuspreventingmassiveindustry-wideaccumulationofinventories.Suchcutbackscausedquitepromptreflectionatthemilloperatinglevelwhendemandrevivedatretail.Asaresult,beginningaboutmidyear
7、businessreboundedatafairlyrapidrate.This“V”shapedtextiledepression,whileoneofthesharpestonrecord,alsobecameoneoftheshortestonesinourexperience.Thefourthquarterproducedanexcellentprofitforourtextilediv
