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 (£0.67bn) in the second quarter from $353m (£230m) in the same period last year.
The figure for the first six months of the year was $1.85bn (£0.67bn), up from $815m (£532m) last year. Insurance premiums earned fell to $4.417bn (£2.88bn) in the second quarter from $5.382bn (£3.5bn) previously.
