Berkshire Hathaway 1999 Annual Report Download - page 3

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2
Berkshire’s Corporate Performance vs. the S&P 500
Annual Percentage Change
Year (1) (2) (1)-(2)
in Per-Share in S&P 500
Book Value of with Dividends Relative
Berkshire Included Results
1965 ........................ 23.8 10.0 13.8
1966 ........................ 20.3 (11.7) 32.0
1967 ........................ 11.0 30.9 (19.9)
1968 ........................ 19.0 11.0 8.0
1969 ........................ 16.2 (8.4) 24.6
1970 ........................ 12.0 3.9 8.1
1971 ........................ 16.4 14.6 1.8
1972 ........................ 21.7 18.9 2.8
1973 ........................ 4.7 (14.8) 19.5
1974 ........................ 5.5 (26.4) 31.9
1975 ........................ 21.9 37.2 (15.3)
1976 ........................ 59.3 23.6 35.7
1977 ........................ 31.9 (7.4) 39.3
1978 ........................ 24.0 6.4 17.6
1979 ........................ 35.7 18.2 17.5
1980 ........................ 19.3 32.3 (13.0)
1981 ........................ 31.4 (5.0) 36.4
1982 ........................ 40.0 21.4 18.6
1983 ........................ 32.3 22.4 9.9
1984 ........................ 13.6 6.1 7.5
1985 ........................ 48.2 31.6 16.6
1986 ........................ 26.1 18.6 7.5
1987 ........................ 19.5 5.1 14.4
1988 ........................ 20.1 16.6 3.5
1989 ........................ 44.4 31.7 12.7
1990 ........................ 7.4 (3.1) 10.5
1991 ........................ 39.6 30.5 9.1
1992 ........................ 20.3 7.6 12.7
1993 ........................ 14.3 10.1 4.2
1994 ........................ 13.9 1.3 12.6
1995 ........................ 43.1 37.6 5.5
1996 ........................ 31.8 23.0 8.8
1997 ........................ 34.1 33.4 .7
1998 ........................ 48.3 28.6 19.7
1999 ........................ .5 21.0 (20.5)
Notes: Data are for calendar years with these exceptions: 1965 and 1966, year ended 9/30; 1967, 15 months ended 12/31.
Starting in 1979, accounting rules required insurance companies to value the equity securities they hold at market rather
than at the lower of cost or market, which was previously the requirement. In this table, Berkshire's results through 1978
have been restated to conform to the changed rules. In all other respects, the results are calculated using the numbers
originally reported.
The S&P 500 numbers are pre-tax whereas the Berkshire numbers are after-tax. If a corporation such as Berkshire were
simply to have owned the S&P 500 and accrued the appropriate taxes, its results would have lagged the S&P 500 in years
when that index showed a positive return, but would have exceeded the S&P in years when the index showed a negative
return. Over the years, the tax costs would have caused the aggregate lag to be substantial.