Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company run by the billionaire US investor Warren Buffett, reported a 35% rise in quarterly profits.
Rising premiums pushed earnings from operations, the main part of which is property and casualty insurance, up to $1.032bn in the second quarter from $353m in the same period last year.
The figure for the first six months of the year was $1.85bn, up from $815m the time before.
Insurance premiums earned fell to $4.417bn in the second quarter from $5.382bn the time before.
For the first half of 2002, insurance premiums earned fell to $8.855bn from $9.108bn the time before.
Insurance losses and loss adjusting expenses fell in the second quarter to $3.464bn from $4.989bn the time before.
The figure for the first half was $6.938bn, down from $8.014bn in the first half of last year.
Insurance underwriting expenses in the second quarter increased to $969m, an increase from $797m in the first quarter.
