Hard-hit by the market rout surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company of Warren Buffett, has reported first-quarter net losses of nearly $50 billion, it reported Saturday.
The celebrated billionaire, considered one of the world's savviest investors, said a better measure of the company's performance was its operating earnings, which exclude investments and are less subject to sharp fluctuations.
By that measure, Berkshire Hathaway saw growth to $5.9 billion from $5.55 billion a year earlier.
The brutal drop in the net -- to a loss of $49.75 billion from a profit last year of $21.7 billion -- resulted primarily from the drop in value of its wide-ranging portfolio of investments amid fears over the economic impact of the global pandemic.
A year earlier, the conglomerate reported profits of $15.5 billion.
Buffett had predicted that a 2018 accounting rule would create "wild and capricious swings" in the company's reported profits or losses.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold its entire stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines in April.
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