Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm headed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has said that it has recorded an increase of 29 per cent during the third quarter of the year.

The company benefitted from $1.39 billion of gains from investments and derivatives, which is more than double the level of $521 million recorded during the same period of the previous year. However, the operating results were lower than analyst expectations for the quarter mainly due to weakness in its insurance operations.

Berkshire also recorded a $1.2 billion investment gain from warrants in General Electric and Goldman Sachs. The company also said that its revenue grew 13 per cnet to $46.5 billion. The company's net insurance underwriting premiums as recorded a fall of 57 per cent to $170 million during the quarter from $392 million recorded during the same quarter of the previous year. The company benefitted from collecting gains from deals made during the financial crisis.

The investment giant was able to earn $5.05 billion, or $3,074 per Class A share, during the quarter compared to $3.92 billion, or $2,373 per Class A share during the same quarter of the previous year.