Berkshire Hathaway profit falls 77%

Lower insurance returns send profit down 77%

Billionaire Warren E. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted a fourth straight profit drop, the longest streak of quarterly declines in at least 13 years, on falling returns at insurance businesses and investment losses.

Third-quarter net income decreased 77% to $1.06 billion, or $682 a share, from $4.55 billion, or $2,942, a year earlier, the Omaha-based company said Friday.

Berkshire, which owns National Indemnity Co., General Re Corp. and Geico Corp., said profit from underwriting insurance policies fell 83% to $81 million. Its reinsurance group, which sells catastrophe coverage to other insurers, posted a $166-million pretax loss for the quarter. Berkshire typically gets about half its revenue from insurance.

SPRINT NEXTEL

Wireless provider swings to a loss

Sprint Nextel Corp. watched 1.3 million wireless subscribers head for its competitors during the third quarter, leading the company to post a loss that sent its stock skidding.

Dan Hesse, the Overland Park, Kan.-based company's chief executive, said that Sprint Nextel planned to work harder to attract new customers during the upcoming holiday season but acknowledged that "we have yet to turn the corner."

"We made good progress on our operational priorities in the third quarter and resolved some key issues," he said. "Still, subscriber losses are too high."

The nation's third-largest wireless provider said it lost $326 million, or 11 cents a share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. It earned $64 million, or 2 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Sprint Nextel said it would have broken even during the quarter. On that basis, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 3 cents a share.

Sprint Nextel's revenue declined 12% to $8.81 billion. Analysts expected $8.85 billion.

The company's shares fell 31 cents, or 8%, to $3.37.

CALPINE

Power producer's profit plunges

Calpine Corp., the U.S. power producer that exited bankruptcy protection in January, said its third-quarter profit plunged from a year earlier when reorganization gains boosted earnings.

Net income fell to $136 million, or 28 cents a share, from $3.79 billion, or $7.91, a year earlier, Houston- and San Jose-based Calpine said. Reorganization gains totaled $3.94 billion in last year's third quarter as the company reduced provisions for bankruptcy claims.