BUFFETT'S SWEET TOOTH; BILLIONAIRE MOVES PORTFOLIO INTO DOUGHNUTS, ICE CREAM.Byline: Bruce Stanley Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Billionaire Warren Buffett Warren Buffett Known as "the Oracle of Omaha," Buffett is Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and arguably the greatest investor of all time. His wealth fluctuates with the performance of the market, but for the last few years he has been reported to be worth over $30 billion, making , whose investments in well-known consumer brands have attracted loyal followers who view him as one of the world's shrewdest investors, has added the British owner of Dunkin' Donuts Sources: Dunkin' Donuts is an international coffee and donut retailer founded in 1950 in Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S. by William Rosenberg. Corporate Profile History to his portfolio. Buffett, who is more at home with investments in Coca-Cola, Gillette and Dairy Queen Dairy Queen (also known as DQ) is an ice-cream shop and fast-food restaurant franchise based in the United States and founded in 1940. For many years the franchise's slogan was "We treat you right!" In recent years, it has been changed to "DQ something different. than in Internet stocks, has bought 2.2 percent of Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, UK that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. History Allied Domecq was the result of a 1994 merger between Allied Lyons and Pedro Domecq.[1]. PLC, which owns the doughnut shop chain, along with Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores and some of the world's best-known liquor brands. The investment is Buffett's first overseas foray since he sank $265 million into Guinness PLC, the Irish beer maker. He unloaded his Guinness shares in 1994 after holding them for just a few years, a rare departure from his celebrated buy-and-hold strategy Buy-and-hold strategy A passive investment strategy with no active buying and selling of stocks from the time the portfolio is created until the end of the investment horizon. Opposite of active strategy. . Buffett's investment firm, Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., began buying shares in Allied Domecq as early as last month, a source at the British company said Tuesday. On the news, Allied Domecq share prices shot up 4.7 percent to close at $9 a share, or 555.5 British pence in London. Berkshire Hathaway, the priciest stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. , saw its shares rise 1.3 percent, climbing $910 to $73,210 a share. Buffett's skill at picking long-term investments has earned him the nickname ``sage of Omaha'' as well as a fortune of around $30 billion, second only to that of Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corp. In Allied Domecq, Buffett is not only betting on the sweet tooth of consumers but also on liquor brands such as Ballantine's Scotch, Canadian Club whiskey and Beefeater gin. Like Guinness, Allied Domecq operates in the highly fragmented alcoholic beverages sector where consumer tastes vary widely between and even within countries. And that has some analysts skeptical about Buffett's latest stock pick. ``I respect him as an investor, but when it comes to our particular industry, he has yet to earn his spurs,'' said Charles Winston, a senior beverage analyst at HSBC HSBC Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC Humane Society of Broward County (Florida) HSBC Humane Society of Bay County (Bay County, Michigan) in London. The disclosure of Berkshire Hathaway's investment, which followed a report in Tuesday's edition of The Guardian newspaper, ended weeks of rumors about Buffett's plans in Britain. Buffett told investors here in April that he thought U.S. companies were overvalued Overvalued A stock whose current price is not justified by the earnings outlook or price/earnings (P/E) ratio and thus, expected to drop in price. Overvaluation may result from an emotional buying spurt, which inflates the market price of the stock or from a deterioration in a and that he was eyeing a large but unspecified British target. An Allied Domecq spokesman refused to comment on the newspaper report, and officials at Berkshire Hathaway's headquarters did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. INVESTING IN DONUTS Billionaire Warren Buffett has bought a 2.2. percent stake in the British company Allied Domecq PLC. A look at the company: Allied Domecq PLC Headquarters: London 1998 Sales: $7.24 billion, up 0.7% from 1997 1998 Earnings: $460.3 million, up 28.8% from 1997 Retailing chains: Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Togo's in the United States; pubs and restaurants across Britain and in other countries Spirits and wine brands: Ballantine's, Teacher's, Beefeater beefeater yeoman of the English royal guard, esp. at the Tower of London; slang for Englishman. [Br. Culture: Misc.] See : Britain beefeater popular name for a Yeoman of the Guard or Yeoman Warder of the Tower of London. [Br. Hist. , Kahlua, Courvoisier, Tequila Sauza, Canadian Club, Harvey's Bristol Cream, Tia Maria SOURCE: Company reports CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--Color) Above, Warren Buffett attends a May 2 news conference. Dave Weaver/Associated Press (2--Color) Right, Ana Guzman works at a Baskin-Robbins in Monterey Park in the file photo. Daily News BOX: INVESTING IN DONUTS (see text) Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion