Berkshire Hathaway’s P&C operations report ninth consecutive year of underwriting profit, but profits shrunk in 2011

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s property and casualty insurance operations have recorded their ninth straight year of a total underwriting profit, although the underwriting profit in 2011 was down significantly due in part to large catastrophe losses affecting the industry as a whole.

Over the past nine years, underwriting profits for Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance operations — including the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, General Re, GEICO and a group of smaller P&C insurers — have totaled $17 billion.

The 2011 underwriting profit for the P&C operations was $248 million, including a $714-million underwriting loss reported by BH Reinsurance.

General Re reported an underwriting profit of $144 million, GEICO had an underwriting profit of $576 million and the group of smaller insurers reported an underwriting profit of $242 million.

The same operations reported a total underwriting profit of $2.013 billion in 2010, led by GEICO’s $1.117-billion underwriting profit in 2010.