Notes payable and other borrowings

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Notes payable and other borrowings

Note 17. Notes payable and other borrowings

Notes payable and other borrowings of our insurance and other businesses are summarized below (dollars in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges are based on borrowings as of March 31, 2024.

	Weighted Average Interest Rate			March 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
Insurance and other:
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire”):
U.S. Dollar denominated due 2025-2047		3.6	%	$	3,742	$	3,740
Euro denominated due 2025-2041		1.1	%		4,929		6,145
Japanese Yen denominated due 2024-2060		0.8	%		8,291		8,896
Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”):
U.S. Dollar denominated due 2027-2052		3.6	%		14,465		14,463
Great Britain Pound denominated due 2039-2059		2.5	%		2,173		2,191
Euro denominated due 2030-2034		1.8	%		1,344		1,374
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2024-2051		4.5	%		4,649		4,696
Subsidiary short-term borrowings		7.2	%		1,130		1,187
				$	40,723	$	42,692

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 17. Notes payable and other borrowings

Berkshire parent company borrowings consist of senior unsecured debt. In the first quarter of 2024, Berkshire repaid approximately $1.1 billion of maturing senior notes. In April 2024, Berkshire issued ¥263.3 billion (approximately $1.7 billion) of senior notes with interest rates ranging from 0.974% to 2.498% and maturity dates ranging from 2027 to 2054.

Borrowings of BHFC, a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Berkshire, consist of senior unsecured notes used to fund manufactured housing loans originated or acquired and equipment held for lease of certain subsidiaries. BHFC borrowings are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Berkshire. Berkshire also guarantees certain debt of other subsidiaries, aggregating approximately $2.7 billion at March 31, 2024. Generally, Berkshire’s guarantee of a subsidiary’s debt obligation is an absolute, unconditional and irrevocable guarantee for the full and prompt payment when due of all payment obligations.

The carrying values of Berkshire and BHFC non-U.S. Dollar denominated senior notes (€5.85 billion, £1.75 billion and ¥1,259 billion par at March 31, 2024) reflect the applicable exchange rates as of each balance sheet date. The effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates during the period are recorded in earnings as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses. Changes in the exchange rates produced pre-tax gains of $781 million in the first quarter of 2024 and pre-tax losses of $26 million in the first quarter of 2023.

Notes payable and other borrowings of our railroad, utilities and energy businesses are summarized below (dollars in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges are based on borrowings as of March 31, 2024.

	Weighted Average Interest Rate			March 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (“BHE”) and subsidiaries:
BHE senior unsecured debt due 2025-2053		4.4	%	$	13,103	$	13,101
Subsidiary and other debt due 2024-2064		4.6	%		43,924		39,072
Short-term borrowings		5.9	%		1,528		4,148
Pilot Travel Centers (“Pilot”) and subsidiaries		—			—		5,776
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (“BNSF”) and subsidiaries due 2024-2097		4.6	%		23,476		23,482
				$	82,031	$	85,579

BHE subsidiary debt represents amounts issued pursuant to separate financing agreements. Substantially all of the assets of certain BHE subsidiaries are, or may be, pledged or encumbered to support or otherwise secure such debt. These borrowing arrangements generally contain various covenants, including covenants which pertain to leverage ratios, interest coverage ratios and/or debt service coverage ratios. In the first quarter of 2024, BHE subsidiaries issued $5.1 billion of term debt with a weighted average interest rate of 5.4% and maturity dates ranging from 2029 to 2055. During the first quarter of 2024, BHE and its subsidiaries repaid short-term borrowings of approximately $2.6 billion.

As of December 31, 2023, Pilot’s borrowings primarily represented secured syndicated loans. In March, 2024, certain Berkshire insurance subsidiaries loaned $5.7 billion to Pilot, which Pilot used to prepay its then outstanding third-party borrowings. BNSF’s borrowings are primarily senior unsecured debentures. As of March 31, 2024, BHE, BNSF and their subsidiaries were in compliance with all applicable debt covenants. Berkshire does not guarantee any debt, borrowings or lines of credit of BHE, BNSF or their subsidiaries.

Unused lines of credit and commercial paper capacity to support operations and provide additional liquidity for our subsidiaries were approximately $9.9 billion at March 31, 2024, of which approximately $8.7 billion related to BHE and its subsidiaries.