Feb 23 - Sinking stocks and deteriorating prospects from an investment in Kraft Heinz Co pummeled the bottom line of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , which on Saturday reported a large quarterly net loss even though operating profit rose.
The fourth-quarter net loss was $25.39 billion, or $15,467 per Class A share, reflecting more than $27.6 billion of investment losses, including from stocks Berkshire still owns.
Results included a $3.02 billion writedown for intangible assets that Buffett said was "almost entirely" attributable to Kraft Heinz, which on Thursday reported its own $15.4 billion writedown for Kraft, Oscar Mayer and other assets.
Berkshire's operating profit, meanwhile, rose to $5.72 billion from $3.34 billion.