<p>Tokyo: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has raised its stake in Japan's top five trading firms to around 9%, it said in its annual report.</p>.<p>Berkshire Hathaway's wholly owned subsidiary National Indemnity Company previously held about 7 to 8 per cent in Mitsubishi Corp, Itochu Corp, Mitsui Co, Sumitomo Corp and Marubeni Corp, according to filings made in June.</p>.<p>Berkshire first announced its stakes in the trading houses in 2020 with the intention of holding them long-term and increasing them to as much as 9.9 per cent.</p>.<p>Bershire Hathaway said in the report, dated Feb. 24, that it paid 1.6 trillion yen ($10.63 billion) for the five stakes, which were valued at 2.9 trillion yen at the end of 2023. In dollar terms, that translated to unrealised gains of 61 per cent or $8 billion, it said. </p><p><em>($1 = 150.5000 yen)</em></p>
<p>Tokyo: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has raised its stake in Japan's top five trading firms to around 9%, it said in its annual report.</p>.<p>Berkshire Hathaway's wholly owned subsidiary National Indemnity Company previously held about 7 to 8 per cent in Mitsubishi Corp, Itochu Corp, Mitsui Co, Sumitomo Corp and Marubeni Corp, according to filings made in June.</p>.<p>Berkshire first announced its stakes in the trading houses in 2020 with the intention of holding them long-term and increasing them to as much as 9.9 per cent.</p>.<p>Bershire Hathaway said in the report, dated Feb. 24, that it paid 1.6 trillion yen ($10.63 billion) for the five stakes, which were valued at 2.9 trillion yen at the end of 2023. In dollar terms, that translated to unrealised gains of 61 per cent or $8 billion, it said. </p><p><em>($1 = 150.5000 yen)</em></p>