WARREN BUFFETT’S LETTER – 1966 – 1968

I am really grateful to Riddhi for helping me with editing work.

WB Letter 1966

Mr. Buffett had acquired a controlling stake in Berkshire Hathway in the year 1965. Berkshire was a textile company and Mr. Buffett had started acquiring the stake of Berkshire since 1962 at the price of $7.60 per share. During the year 1965, Berkshire had closed down certain mills and only 2 mills were working as they were profitable and with about 2300 employees. As per the calculations, networking capital alone was worth about $19 per share.

Diversification

Mr. Buffett gave his view on diversification and also gave his opinion on why aren’t all managers generating superior returns.

Mr.Buffett says that he diversifies less as compared to what majority of the investment managers does. He can willingly invest upto 40% of the net worth into a single company; where the probability is higher about his facts and reasoning being appropriate in enhancing the value of the investment.

Mr. Buffett mentions that we should have a proper diversifying policy rather than behaving illogically as others do by owning one hundred securities into their portfolio. Rather, we should work as per our own view and understanding.

During the year 1966, Mr.Buffett had fully acquired Hochschild and Kohn & Co. The quantitative and qualitative aspects of the business were evaluated and weighed against price, both on an absolute basis and relative to other investment opportunities.

WB Letter 1967

During the year 1967, Mr.Buffett had faced difficulty in identifying new investment ideas. And the reason he felt was as below –

Mr. Buffett does not make an investment into the business which is difficult for him to understand (like technology business). He prefers staying away from the stocks which are in fashion into the market as such approaches don’t fit properly with his stock selection policy.

Mr. Buffett believes that big money can be made by making investment decisions based on qualitative factors whereas sure money can be made by making investment decisions based on quantitative factors. And hence, on the basis of this; he considers himself as a quantitatively focused investor.

Warren Buffett’s Letters 1957 – 2012

WARREN BUFFETT’S LETTER – 1964 – 1965

I am really grateful to Riddhi for helping me with editing work.

WB Letter 1964

Mr. Buffett had made an investment into the “Texas National Petroleum” where the announcement was made of sell out of oil and gas producing business to Union Oil of California.

This kind of situation has a protected downside and we can generate a decent annualized return. Buffett had made a decent annualized return on this workout.

We can make a decent return from such situations in India also. Here are some examples which are taken from Prof. Sanjay Bakshi’s note. (http://ppfas.com/media/articles/sanjay-bakshi/special-situations.pdf)

Mr. Buffett had sold off Dempster mill and he mentioned that “Our business is making excellent purchases — not making extraordinary sales.” This shows that Buffett has emphasized on the buying decision and if we think wisely then it’s only the buying decision that is in our control; so we should focus on buying a business at proper value hence reducing the additional efforts of selling.

WB Letter 1965

Mr. Buffett demonstrated an outstanding performance in Down Jones and other few investment management companies over a period of time.

Up to 1964, Mr. Buffett had categorized his investment operations into 3 categories (i.e. General, Workouts, and Controls) but from the year 1965, Mr.Buffett expanded his categories of investment operations into 4 (i.e. General -Private Owner Basis, Generals -Relatively Undervalued, Workouts and Controls).

Workouts and Controls remain unchanged from the previous series.

Warren Buffett’s Letters 1957 – 2012

WARREN BUFFETT’S LETTER – 1962 – 1963

I am really grateful to Riddhi for helping me with editing work.

WB Letter 1962

Mr.Buffett has a target to an approximately 0.5% decline for each 1% decline in the market. He has always made an emphasis on the falling less compared to the market. Also, he has never tried to predict the market direction.

WB Letter 1963

Mr. Buffett has mentioned few points which we require to keep in mind –

Mr. Buffett puts emphasis on benefits of compounding and mentions that if we want to enjoy the benefits of compounding then either we have to live long (which is impossible to assume) or compound our money at a higher rate (practical to focus on).

Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company

Mr. Buffett had acquired 73% ownership of the Dempster Mill by August 1961 at an average price of $28.

Mr. Buffett had valued Dempster by providing an appropriate discount to various assets and he concluded the value of those assets at $35 on the Fiscal year ending 30th November 1961.

Mr. Buffett has provided a different discount on various assets. The discount applied on various assets is mentioned in the 3rd column and discount adjusted in the value of assets is shown in the 4th column. The total value of assets after discount was $4438000 and total liabilities of the company was $2318000. If he liquidates all the assets after applying discount then he will receive $4438000. Now, if he repays all the outstanding liabilities from adjusted value then the remaining balance with the company would be $2120000 ($4438 – $2318). Per share value of Dempster was $35.25 ($2120/60146 (no. of outstanding shares)).

On 17th April 1962, Mr. Buffett met Mr. Harry Bottle and appointed him as the president on 23rd April 1962 for the better utilization of capital and reduction of overheads. Mr. Harry had achieved all goals set by Mr. Buffett and the result achieved is shown below in the form of balance sheet –

They had to sell off the non-productive assets to reduce the liabilities of the company. Also, Mr. Buffett had started investing the excess cash into the marketable securities in which he is an expert. Once again, he gave an appropriate discount to various assets & after deducting the liabilities and adding fund (which he got through shares) and resulted at the value of $3185000 (3471000 – 346000 + 60000). We can see that value of the company had been increased from $2120000 in the year 1961 to $3185000 in the year 1962. Mr. Buffett’s and Mr. Harry’s decision of capital allocation resulted in the enhancement of the value of the Dempster. And the value of the company grew in the year 1963 as compared to in 1962.

Making a controlling stake becomes difficult for us as retail investors. So that we should try identifying companies which are involved in the restructuring decision and also correcting their capital allocation decisions. There is an Indian listed company which has gone through the process of restructuring in the year 2007-08. The company has been experiencing a tough time due to some inappropriate capital allocation decision and hence the management decided to correct their mistakes.

Price of the company was Rs.4.28 in Sept’08 and the current price (as on 5th February 2018) of the company is Rs.1775. We can see in the financial highlights that the company has sold off nonproductive assets and paid off liabilities which enhances the value of the company.

Mr. Buffett’s investment philosophy says –

In the above example of the Indian company, sales growth has contributed multifold returns, but even if their sales did not show growth then their investors won’t lose their capital.

Warren Buffett’s Letters 1957 – 2012