INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW YORK: Warren Buffett, the 88-year-old chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc , is taking hours of questions from
investors and journalists at the conglomerate's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.
Catch all the big announcements made in Berkshire
conference at OmahaBuffett's marathon QA session is part of what the billionaire investor calls "Woodstock for Capitalists," the annual
shareholder weekend for his company.
Below are some of Buffett's comments, and those of Berkshire's Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, on a
wide range of topics.
ON CONSUMER FOOD BUSINESS"Amazon itself has become a brand
Kirkland is now a brand doing $39 billion
Kirkland does more business than Coke does
Certain retail systems have gained some power, and particularly in the case of Amazon and Walmart and Costco, have gained in power relative
to brands."
"Kraft-Heinz is still doing very well operationally, but we paid too much." Buffett added: "You can turn any investment into a
bad deal by paying too much
What you can't do is turn something into a good deal by paying little."
ON SOCIALISM IN US POLITICS"I'm a card-carrying capitalist
I believe we wouldn't be sitting here except for the market system and the rule of law that are embodied in this country
So you don't have to worry about me changing in that manner."
ON AMAZON.COM INVESTMENT"The people making the decision on (buying) Amazon are
absolutely value investors
They are following value principles
They are totally committed to Berkshire
I don't second-guess them."
"The considerations are identical when you buy Amazon versus some bank stock that looks cheap statistically."
ON
BERKSHIRE'S Q1 RESULTS"The new GAAP rules
require that we mark our securities to market and report any unrealized gains
The bottom line figures are going to be totally capricious.
"I really regard these bottom line figures as potentially being harmful to our
shareholders and really not being helpful
Focus on what we call our operating earnings, which were up a bit."
ON BUYING BACK HIS OWN STOCK"The question whether we had a $100 billion
or $200 would not make a difference in our approach to repurchase shares
We used to have a policy of tying to book value, but that became obsolete."
"We could do it (buy back $100 billion of Berkshire stock)
We will spend a lot of money
We've been involved in companies where the number of shares has been reduced 70-80 percent over time.
"If our stock gets cheap relative to
intrinsic value, we will not hesitate
We would certainly be willing to spend $100 billion."
MUNGER ON BUYING BACK BERKSHIRE SHARESBerkshire will "probably be more liberal when it
comes to repurchasing shares."
ON WELLS FARGO SCANDAL"Wells made some big mistakes in what they incentivized
The interesting thing is the extent to which they set up fake accounts, couple million of them that had no balance in them, that could not
possibly have been profitable to Wells."
"When you find a problem, you have to do something about it
I think that's probably where they made a mistake."
"Wells has become Exhibit One
Go back a few years, there's quite a list of banks where people have behaved badly."
ON HIS 60-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH MUNGER"We make the
It's just that we haven't had any big decisions."
ON FURNITURE BUSINESSBuffett says first quarter was weak at all four of furniture
He said he has been surprised by how little people have moved into houses, hurting US furniture operations ON AJIT JAIN AND GREG ABELYou
could not have two better operating managers' than Berkshire vice chairmen Greg Abel, Ajit Jain
Buffett says it is probably a good idea to bring Jain and Abel on stage to answer questions
ON 3G CAPITALBuffett calls Jorge Paulo Lemann, co-founder of Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, 'a good friend of mine and marvellous
human being.' Buffett says he is pleased to be partners with 3G Capital, but they have more taste for paying up
Buffett said it is 'conceivable' that something could come up where Berkshire and 3G would work together again, and that in some cases
'they are way better operators'
ON APPLEBuffett said he likes Apple Inc very much but wishes the price was lower so he could buy more
.ON
HOLDINGS IN BANKBuffett said the Fed changes to regulations on bank holding companies mean less of a deterrent for Berkshire
He said Berkshire holdings of some companies may now drift higher than 10 per cent over time