Washington (AFP)

Warren Buffett said he was convinced on Saturday that the American economic miracle "will prevail again" after the world's first economy was brought to its knees by the pandemic of new coronavirus, its holding Berkshire Hathaway having posted a net loss of 50 billion dollars in Q1 2020.

"We have faced serious problems in the past, although we have never had to face exactly this problem (the Covid-19 pandemic, editor's note). But we have faced more problems serious and the American miracle, American magic will prevail once again, "said the 89-year-old billionaire, considered one of the world's smartest investors, in a lengthy monologue on the economic history of states United to try to prove their optimistic point of view.

"Today we are a better country, as well as an incredibly richer country than we were in 1789 (...) We still have a long way to go but we are going in the right direction", he said, referring to the abolition of slavery and the vote of women, before launching his famous "never bet against the United States".

The gigantic net loss of 49.75 billion dollars (against a profit of almost 22 billion a year earlier) is entirely due to the loss of the value of the huge portfolio of various stocks held by Berkshire Hathaway reflecting the stock market rout caused by the pandemic.

An 2018 accounting rule forces the holding company to take into account unrealized losses or gains in its quarterly accounts.

Fourth world fortune with 72 billion dollars, according to the Forbes barometer on Saturday, Mr. Buffett prefers to measure the performance of his protean holding company - in addition to stocks, it also has "real" activities in insurance, transport and energy for example - to operating profit, less subject to fluctuation.

The latter emerged with a profit of 5.9 billion dollars against 5.55 billion a year earlier.

- Omaha dreary plain -

Mr. Buffett was speaking at the famous Berkshire Hathaway general meeting. But like all other public gatherings, it is virtual this year and Mr. Buffett addresses his shareholders during a live broadcast on the internet flanked only by Gregory Abel, in charge of non-insurance operations.

Even his 60-year-old partner Charlie Munger, who is 96, did not make the trip.

This GA is an integral part of the folklore associated with Warren Buffett, who will be 90 years old on August 30 and who cultivates the image of a man with simple tastes, close to people.

The GA is an opportunity for tens of thousands of shareholders and fans to meet in Omaha, in the middle of the great plains, to participate in a meeting that is more like a public fair than an investor meeting.

It is also an opportunity to worship the one who is nicknamed "the Oracle of Omaha".

Berkshire Hathaway management notes in the stock market documents posted on Saturday that, until mid-March, "many of our businesses were showing higher profits and higher sales over the same period last year ".

A good part of the companies of the holding company are considered essential and they can therefore continue to operate despite the containment measures taken across almost all of the United States: insurance, rail transport, energy production.

But, notes management, "the turnover of these companies slowed considerably in April", as the epidemic spread.

"Although we are convinced that these actions (short-time working, lower wages, lower investment, etc.) are temporary, we cannot reliably say when the activities in our many and diverse businesses will return to normal," acknowledges Berkshire Hathaway management.

© 2020 AFP