1974年的巴菲特致股东的信.pdf

1974 年巴菲特致股东的信 翻译：Rick /s/blog_a3453d2201015tjr.html To the Stockholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: Operating results for 1974 overall were unsatisfactory due to the poor performance of our insurance business. In last years annual report some decline in profitability was predicted but the extent of this decline, which accelerated during the year, was a surprise. Operating earnings for 1974 were $8,383,576, or $8.56 per share, for a return on beginning shareholders equity of 10.3%. This is the lowest return on equity realized since 1970. Our textile division and our bank both performed very well, turning in improved results against the already good figures of 1973. 致伯克希尔股东： 1974 年我们的经营业绩并不令人满意，原因是保险业务的表现很糟。在去年的 年报里，我们曾经预测保险业务的利润率会出现下降，但是今年下降的程度，还 是超过我们的想象。1974 年的经营利润是838 万美元，约合每股8.56 美元，以 年初股东权益为基数计算的ROE 为10.3% 。这是自1970 年以来的最低回报。我 们的纺织业务和银行业务的业绩在1974 年表现得非常好，在1973 年已经不错的 业绩基础上又进了一步。 However, insurance underwriting, which has been mentioned in the last several annual reports as running at levels of unsustainable profitability, turned dramatically worse as the year progressed. The outlook for 1975 is not encouraging. 然而，对于承保业务，我们去年的年报里已经提到利润率很低，处于一个不可维 持的水平，但是今年的情况变得更糟。1975 年的前景也不妙。 We undoubtedly will have sharply negative comparisons in our textile operation and probably a moderate decline in banking earnings. Insurance underwriting is a large question mark at this time—it certainly wont be a satisfactory year in this area, and could be an extremely poor one. Prospects are reasonably good for an improvement in both insurance investment income and our equity in earnings of Blue Chip Stamps. During this period we plan to continue to build financial strength and liquidity, preparing for the time when insurance rates become adequate and we can once again aggressively pursue opportunities for growth in this area. 对于我们的纺织业务来说，未来的盈利情况毫无疑问地会变差。对于我们的银行 业务而言，未来利润率可能会温和地下降。但是，承保业务目前是一个很大的问 题，今年的经营业绩肯定不会令人满意，而且可能会是一个很差的年份。但是保 险投资收益以及蓝带印花公司的盈