Berkshire Hathaway, the parent company of Shaw Industries and Benjamin Moore, which owns Lenmar, reported a net loss of $49.7 billion in the first quarter of 2020. The company earned $21 billion during the same period in 2019.
The building products segment of Berkshire, which includes Shaw and Benjamin Moore, earned $4.9 billion during the quarter, an increase of 6.5% compared with the first quarter of 2019.
The company attributed the overall losses during the quarter to the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, noting that the crisis will likely also impact the company’s second quarter, although the effects may vary significantly.
At a shareholders meeting, Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett expressed optimism that the U.S. economy would recover but noted the next 6 to 12 months contain a lot of uncertainty, Forbes reports.
The full Berkshire Hathaway first quarter report can be found here.
