New York, March 22, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the Aa2 senior unsecured
debt rating and the Prime-1 short-term issuer rating of
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire, NYSE: BRKA) as
well as the ratings of subsidiary obligations guaranteed by Berkshire
(see list below). The rating outlook for Berkshire is stable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
"Berkshire has an exceptionally strong business and financial profile,"
said Bruce Ballentine, Moody's lead analyst for Berkshire.
The earnings and cash flows are diversified across five broad business
segments, while the balance sheet exhibits moderate financial leverage
and excellent liquidity.
"The firm delivered solid results in 2011, despite the effects
of elevated catastrophe losses and volatile financial markets,"
noted Ballentine. All major business segments except for (re)insurance
posted higher profits in 2011 versus 2010. The overall results
were enhanced by the acquisitions of Lubrizol in 2011 and Burlington Northern
in 2010.
"Berkshire maintains extraordinary financial flexibility,"
said Ballentine, "to address a range of potential stress scenarios
and/or investment opportunities." The parent company added
$8 billion of debt to its capital structure in 2010 to help fund
the Burlington Northern acquisition, but it still has strong financial
leverage and fixed-charge coverage metrics. Berkshire also
holds a minimum of $10 billion in cash and equivalents at or readily
available to the parent, and typically the available amount is $20
billion or more.
Berkshire's ratings reflect its strong market presence in its principal
(re)insurance operations, the diversification of its earnings in
both regulated and non-regulated businesses, and its sound
balance sheet, according to Moody's. The ratings also incorporate
the conservative operating and financial policies of the current management
team. These strengths are tempered by potential earnings and capital
volatility related to large and concentrated stock investments as well
as large (re)insurance underwriting transactions. Berkshire also
owns certain housing related businesses that face pressure from the weak
US housing market. Management succession is another credit concern,
given the critical role that CEO Warren Buffett has played in developing
Berkshire's culture and financial track record.
Moody's cited the following factors that could lead to an upgrade of Berkshire's
ratings: (i) improvement in the stand-alone credit profiles
of major operating units; along with (ii) continued holdings of large
cash and equivalent balances at the parent company or immediately available
to the parent.
Moody's cited the following factors that could lead to a rating downgrade:
(i) deterioration in the stand-alone credit profile(s) of one or
more major operating units; (ii) a shift toward a less conservative
financial profile (e.g., adjusted financial leverage
exceeding 15% or total leverage exceeding 20%); (iii)
losses from insurance underwriting, investments and/or derivatives
causing a 20% decline in shareholders' equity in a given year;
or (iv) a significant decline in cash and equivalents on hand (e.g.,
approaching $10 billion or less).
The following ratings have been affirmed with a stable outlook:
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. -- long-term issuer rating
and senior unsecured debt at Aa2, senior unsecured shelf at (P)Aa2,
short-term issuer rating at Prime-1;
Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation -- backed senior unsecured
debt at Aa2, backed senior unsecured shelf at (P)Aa2;
The Lubrizol Corporation -- backed senior unsecured debt at Aa2;
NetJets Inc. -- backed commercial paper at Prime-1.
The principal methodologies used in this rating were Moody's Global Rating
Methodology for Reinsurers published in December 2011 and Moody's Global
Rating Methodology for Property and Casualty Insurers published in May
2010. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for copies of these methodologies.
Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Berkshire is a holding company engaged
through subsidiaries in diversified businesses that fall into five broad
segments: property & casualty (re)insurance; railroad;
utilities and energy; manufacturing, service and retailing;
and finance and financial products. Berkshire also holds meaningful
minority interests in several prominent financial and consumer products
firms through its portfolio of common stocks, held mainly by its
(re)insurance subsidiaries. Berkshire reported total revenues of
$144 billion and net income attributable to Berkshire of $10.3
billion for 2011. Shareholders' equity attributable to Berkshire
was $165 billion as of year-end 2011.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Although this credit rating has been issued in a non-EU country
which has not been recognized as endorsable at this date, this credit
rating is deemed "EU qualified by extension" and may still
be used by financial institutions for regulatory purposes until 30 April
2012. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the
Moody's office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available
on www.moodys.com.
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entity, obligation or credit satisfactory for the purposes of issuing
a rating.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's
considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent
third-party sources. However, Moody's is not
an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or validate
information received in the rating process.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has
issued the rating.
Bruce Ballentine
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Riegel
MD - Insurance
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's affirms Berkshire Hathaway's senior debt rating at Aa2