Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway posted a bumper crop of results on Saturday driven by the resurgence in economic activity around the world after the Covid-induced slump boosting many businesses’ bottom lines that are owned by the billionaire.

Operating profits jumped 21 per cent to £6.69bn in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2020.

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Berkshire’s railroad, utilities and logistics companies are benefitting from an uptick in shipping and transport activity triggered by nations lifting Covid restrictions as vaccine rollouts gather pace.

Earnings in the railroads, utilities and energy division climbed more than 27 per cent from a year ago to reach $2.26bn, Berkshire said. Overall earnings for the company, which includes Berkshire’s equity investments, hit £28bn.

The Omaha-based company highlighted that businesses in its insurance division are also recovering sharply from the damage inflicted on them by the Covid crisis.

Buffett’s company moved to temper expectations that the strong set of earnings signalled the firm had fully recovered, suggesting that future results may still be impacted by the effects of the pandemic.

“The Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected nearly all of our operations during 2020 and in particular during the second quarter, although the effects varied significantly,” Berkshire said in the earnings report Saturday.

“The extent of the effects over longer terms cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.”

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