Warren Buffett faces pressure for more disclosure
Stephen Foley in New York
Warren Buffett is under fire from investment analysts who cover his $370bn company, Berkshire Hathaway, over the quality of its financial disclosures.
While Berkshire has grown to be the third-largest company on the US stock market, its quarterly filings reveal far less detail than companies of a similar size, according to the analysts, who all urged Mr Buffett to consider expanding disclosures, particularly about Berkshire’s large insurance businesses.
Mr Buffett rejected the criticism, telling the Financial Times that Berkshire communicates “all the relevant factors for a long-term investment in the shares”.
The FT interviewed five of Berkshire’s six analysts, all of whom noted the difficulty in modelling the company’s financial results. One said Berkshire “could stand to reveal more”; others described the level of disclosure as “limited”, “poor” and “terrible”.
Berkshire’s businesses span insurance, utilities, railways, manufacturing, retail, newspapers and many more industries. Eight of its subsidiaries would be Fortune 500 companies if they were split off.
https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89fea440-ae1c-11e4-8d51-00144feab7de.html#axzz3RD7L0cMy