原文信息：
- 标题：1969 December_5th Letter to Limited Partners
- 作者：Warren Buffett
- 发表时间：1969-12-05
- 链接：Buffett Partnership Letters 1957-1970
- 翻译：诚明散人
- 整理：诚明散人
BUFFETT PARTNERSHIP. LTD.
610 KIEWIT PLAZA
OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68131
TELEPHONE 042-4110
December 5th , 1969
To My Partners:
致我的合伙人：
This letter is to supply you with some published information relating to our two controlled companies (and their four principal operating components), as well as to give you my general views regarding their operations. My comments are not designed to give you loads of detailed information prospectus-style, but only my general "slant" as I see the businesses at this time.
这封信的目的是向你们提供一些与我们两家控股公司（及其四个主要运营部门）有关的公开信息，并向你们介绍我对它们运营情况的总体看法。我并不是打算向你们提供招股说明书式的详细信息，而只是我目前对这些业务的总体“看法”。
At yearend, BPL will own 800,000 of 1,000,000 shares outstanding of Diversified Retailing Company. First Manhattan Company and Wheeler, Munger & Company will each own 100,000 shares. DRC previously owned 100% of Hochschild, Kohn & Company of Baltimore, and currently owns 100% of Associated Retail Stores (formerly named Associated Cotton Shops). On December 1st, DRC sold its entire interest in H-K to Supermarkets General Corp. for $5,045,205 of cash plus non-interest bearing SGC notes for $2 million due 2-1- 70, and $4,540,000 due 2-1-71. The present value of these notes approximates $6.0 million so, effectively, DRC received about $11 million on the sale. Various warranties were made by DRC in connection with the sale, and, while we expect no claims pursuant to the contract, a remote contingent liability always exists while warranties are in force.
到年底时，巴菲特合伙公司将拥有Diversified Retailing Company （以下称“多元零售”）所发行的100万股中的80万股。第一曼哈顿公司和 惠勒·芒格公司将各持有10万股。多元零售之前拥有巴尔的摩的Hochschild, Kohn & Company公司的全部股权，目前拥有Associated Retail Stores（前身为 Associated Cotton Shops公司）的全部股权。12月1日，多元零售将其在 H-K的全部权益出售给了Supermarkets General Corp.，对价是5,045,205美元的现金和购买方发行的在1970年2月1日到期的200万美元无息票据以及1971年2月1日到期的454万美元的无息票据。这些票据的现值约为600万美元，因此，多元零售在此次出售中实际所得约1,100万美元。由于多元零售在销售中提供了各种担保，虽然我们预计不会有人根据合同提出索赔，但在担保有效期内，或有债务始终存在。
Associated Retail Stores has a net worth of about $7.5 million. It is an excellent business with a strong financial position, good operating margins and a record of increasing sales and earnings in recent years. Last year, sales were about $37.5 million and net income about $1 million. This year should see new records in sales and earnings, with my guess on the latter to be in the area of $1.1 million after full taxes.
Associated Retail Stores的净资产约为750万美元。它是一家优秀的企业，财务状况良好，经营利润率高，近年来销售额和收益不断增加。去年，销售额约为3750万美元，净收益约为100万美元。今年的销售额和收益应该会创下新高，我估计税后净利润会在110万美元左右。
DRC has $6.6 million in debentures outstanding (prospectus with full description of the business as of December 18th, 1967 and the debenture terms will be sent you upon request) which have one unusual feature in that if I, or an entity controlled by me, is not the largest shareholder of DRC, the debenture holders have the right to present their debentures for payment by the company at par.
多元零售有660万美元的未清偿债券（1967年12月18日的发行说明书上有对业务的全面描述，如果需要，债券条款也可以寄给你），这些债券有一个不同寻常的特点，即如果我或我控制的实体不再是多元零售的最大股东，债券持有人将有权要求公司按照面值赎回他们的债券。
Thus, DRC has tangible net assets of about $11.50 - $12.00 per share, an excellent operating business and substantial funds available for reinvestment in other operating businesses. On an interim basis, such funds will be employed in marketable securities.
多元零售的有形净资产约为每股11.50美元到12.00美元，它们拥有出色的经营业务和大量可用于再投资其他经营业务的资金，这些资金将暂时用于有价证券。
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has 983,582 shares outstanding, of which BPL owns 691,441. B-H has three main operating businesses, the textile operation, the insurance operation (conducted by National Indemnity Company and National Fire & Marine Insurance Company, which will be collectively called the insurance company) and the Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Rockford, Illinois. It also owns Sun Newspapers Inc, Blacker Printing Company and 70% of Gateway Underwriters, but these operations are not financially significant relative to the total.
伯克希尔公司有983,582股流通股，其中巴菲特合伙公司拥有691,441股。伯克希尔有三大经营业务，即纺织业务、保险业务（由国民保险公司和国民火灾与海上保险公司经营，这两家公司统称为保险公司）以及伊利诺伊州罗克福德地区的伊利诺伊国民银行和信托公司。伯克希尔还拥有《太阳报》公司、Blacker印刷公司和70%的Gateway承保公司，但是相比整个公司，这些业务在财务上并不重要。
The textile operation presently employs about $16 per share in capital and, while I think it has made some progress relative to the textile industry generally, cannot be judged a satisfactory business. Its return on capital has not been sufficient to support the assets employed in the business and, realistically, an adequate return has less than an even chance of being averaged in the future. It represents the best segments of the business that existed when we purchased control four and one-half years ago. Capital from the other segments has been successfully redeployed - first, on an interim basis into marketable securities and, now on a permanent basis into insurance and banking. I like the textile operating people - they have worked hard to improve the business under difficult conditions - and, despite the poor return, we expect to continue the textile operation as long as it produces near current levels.
纺织业务目前每股资本约为16美元，虽然我认为相对于整个纺织业来说，它已经取得了一些进步，但远不能说是一个令人满意的业务。它的资本回报不足以弥补业务中所使用资产的折旧，而且实际上未来获得高于平均回报率的可能性很小。它代表了四年半前我们购买控制权时存在的最好的业务部门。其他业务部门的资本已经成功地进行了重新布署——先是临时性地投入有价证券，现在又永久性地投入保险和银行业。我喜欢纺织业务的运营人员，虽然行业困难重重，但是他们努力进行改善。尽管回报率不高，但只要纺织业务的利润率接近目前的水平，我们就会继续经营下去。
The insurance operation (of which B-H owns virtually 100%) and the bank (where B-H owns 97.7%) present a much happier picture. Both are first-class businesses, earning good returns on capital and stacking up well on any absolute or comparative analysis of operating statistics. The bank has about $17 per share of net tangible assets applicable to B-H, and the insurance company approximately $15. I would estimate their normal current earning power to be about $4 per share (compared to about $3.40 from operations pro-forma in 1968), with good prospects for future growth on the combined $32 of tangible net assets in the bank and insurance company. Adding in the textile business and miscellaneous assets, and subtracting parent company bank debt of about $7 million, gives a tangible net asset value of about $43 per share for B-H, or about $45 stated book value, allowing for the premium over tangible assets paid for the bank.
保险业务（伯克希尔几乎拥有全部股份）和银行业务（伯克希尔拥有97.7%的股份）的情况则要好得多。这两家公司都是一流的企业，资本回报率很高，在任何绝对或相对的经营统计数据分析中都名列前茅。伯克希尔股权对应的银行业务有形净资产每股约为17美元，保险业务约为15美元。我估计它们目前的正常盈利能力约为每股4美元（而1968年的备考利润约为3.4美元），银行和保险公司合计32美元的有形净资产具有良好的增长前景。加上纺织品业务和其他资产，再减去母公司约700万美元的银行债务，伯克希尔公司的有形净资产价值约为每股43美元；考虑到为银行支付的有形资产溢价，每股账面价值约为45美元。
One caveat - when I talk above of tangible net assets. I am valuing the $75 million of bonds held by the insurance company and bank at amortized cost. This is in accord with standard accounting procedures used in those industries and also in accord with the realities of their business operations where it is quite unlikely that bonds will have to be sold before maturity. At today's historically low bond prices, however, our bonds have a market value substantially below carrying value, probably on the order of $10 per share of B-H stock.
有一点需要注意——当我在上面谈到有形净资产时。我是按照摊余成本对保险公司和银行持有的7,500万美元债券进行估值的。这符合这些行业所使用的标准会计准则，也符合它们的业务运营实际情况，到期前债券出售的可能性很小。然而，在目前债券价格处于历史低位的情况下，我们所持债券的市场价值大大低于账面价值，可能相当于每股伯克希尔的股票对应10美元。
Between DRC and B-H, we have four main operating businesses with three of them in my opinion, definitely first class by any of the usual standards of evaluation. The three excellent businesses are all run by men over sixty who are largely responsible for building each operation from scratch. These men are hard working, wealthy, and good – extraordinarily good. Their age is a negative, but it is the only negative applicable to them. One of the reasons I am happy to have a large segment of my capital in B-H and DRC is because we have such excellent men in charge of the operating businesses.
多元零售和伯克希尔旗下的四项主要经营业务，在我看来，其中三项按照任何通常的评估标准都绝对是一流的。这三家优秀企业的经营者都是六十岁以上的人，他们几乎靠一己之力从零开始建立了相应的企业。这些人勤劳、富有、优秀——特别优秀。他们的年龄是一个负面因素，但这是他们的唯一负面因素。我之所以乐于将大部分资金投入伯克希尔和多元零售，原因之一就是我们有如此优秀的人才负责经营业务。
We have various annual reports, audits, interim reports, proxy materials prospectuses, etc... applicable to our control holdings and we will be glad to supply you with any item you request. I also solicit your written questions and will send to all partners the questions and answers shortly before yearend. Don't hesitate to ask any question at all that comes to mind - if it isn't clear to you, it probably isn't clear to others - and there is no reason for any of you to be wondering about something that I might clear up.
我们有适用于我们的控股公司的各种年度报告、审计报告、中期报告、代理材料、招股说明书等等，我们很乐意提供你所要求的任何资料。我还会向合伙人征求以书面形式反馈的问题，并在年底前将问题和答案发送给所有合伙人。如果你有任何问题，请不要犹豫——如果你不清楚，其他人可能也不清楚——你们任何人都不应该对我需要澄清的问题感到疑惑。
DRC and B-H presently pay no dividends and will probably pay either no dividends or very modest dividends for some years to come. There are a number of reasons for this. Both parent companies have borrowed money - we want to maintain a good level of protection for depositors at the bank and policyholders at the insurance company - some of the operating companies have very satisfactory ways to utilize additional capital - and we are hopeful of finding new businesses to both diversify and augment our earning power.
多元零售和伯克希尔目前没有分红，而且在未来几年内很可能也不分红或分红很少。这有几个原因：两家母公司都有借款——我们希望为银行的储户和保险公司的投保人提供良好的保障；母公司旗下的一些公司有非常令人满意的方法来利用额外的资本——我们希望找到新的业务来多样化并增强我们的盈利能力。
My personal opinion is that the intrinsic value of DRC and B-H will grow substantially over the years. While no one knows the future, I would be disappointed if such growth wasn't at a rate of approximately 10% per annum. Market prices for stocks fluctuate at great amplitudes around intrinsic value but, over the long term, intrinsic value is virtually always reflected at some point in market price. Thus, I think both securities should be very decent long-term holdings and I am happy to have a substantial portion of my net worth invested in them. You should be unconcerned about short-term price action when you own the securities directly, just as you were unconcerned when you owned them indirectly through BPL. I think about them as businesses, not “stocks”, and if the business does all right over the long term, so will the stock.
我个人认为，多元零售和伯克希尔的内在价值将在未来几年内大幅增长。虽然未来无人知晓，但如果这种增长速度没有达到每年10%左右，我会感到失望。股票的市场价格会围绕内在价值大幅波动，所以从长期来看，内在价值几乎总是会在市场价格曲线的某几个点上得到反映。因此，我认为这两个公司都是非常不错的长期投资标的，我很高兴能将我净资产的很大一部分投资于它们。当你直接持有这两个公司的股票时，你不应该担心短期的价格波动，就像你通过巴菲特合伙公司间接持有这两种证券时一样。我认为它们是企业，而不是“股票”，如果企业长期发展良好，股票也会如此。
I want to stress that I will not be in a managerial or partnership status with you regarding your future holdings of such securities. You will be free to do what you wish with your stock in the future and so, of course, will I. I think that there is a very high probability that I will maintain my investment in DRC and B-H for a very long period, but I want no implied moral commitment to do so nor do so nor do I wish to advise others over an indefinite future period regarding their holdings. The companies, of course, will keep all shareholders advised of their activities and you will receive reports as issued by them, probably on a semi-annual basis. Should I continue to hold the securities, as I fully expect to do, my degree of involvement in their activities may vary depending upon my other interests. The odds are that I will take an important position on matters of policy, but I want no moral obligation to be other than a passive shareholder, should my interests develop elsewhere.
我想强调的是，在你们未来持有这些证券时，我不会与你们有任何管理或合作上的关系。今后你们可以自由处置你们的股票，当然我也一样。我认为我很有可能长期保有我在多元零售和伯克希尔公司上的投资，但我不希望做出、也不会做出任何隐含的道义承诺，我也不希望在未来无限期地为其他人的持股提供建议。当然，这两家公司会随时向所有股东通报他们的情况，你们也会收到他们公布的报告，很可能是半年一次。如果我继续持有这些证券，而且我完全希望继续持有，那么我对它们的参与程度可能会有所不同，不过这取决于我其他方面的利益。我有可能会对公司政策问题有重大影响，但如果我的兴趣已经转向其他方面，我可能就只想做一个被动投资者，而不想承担任何道义上的义务。
We presently plan to make the initial BPL cash distribution on January 5th, which will now come to at least 64% of January 1, 1969 capital less any distributions (including monthly payments) you have received from us since January 1, 1969. There is now pending a public offering, headed by Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, of our Blue Chip Stamps holdings which, if completed this month as expected, should bring the figure to at least 70%.
巴菲特合伙公司目前计划在1月5日分配第一笔现金，金额至少将达到1969年1月1日资本的64%，但要扣除1969年1月1日以来的你们所有已收到的资金（包括“月度支付”）。目前，我们持有的蓝筹印花的股票正在等待公开发行——由Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith公司牵头，如果本月能如期完成，合伙公司的现金分配比例将至少达到 70%。
If you wish Bill and me to give you our ideas regarding bonds in March, you should purchase U.S. Treasury Bills maturing in late March with the applicable portion of the January 5th distribution. Then advise us in the last week of February of the amount you wish to invest in bonds and we will let you know our thoughts.
如果你希望我和Bill在三月份介绍我们对债券的看法，你们应该先用1月5日分配的可支配现金购买三月底到期的美国国库券。并在二月的最后一周告诉我们你希望用于投资债券的金额，我们会告诉你我们的想法。
About the middle of January (as soon as the exact amounts are figured and shares are received from the Transfer Agent after having been registered in your name) we will distribute the DRC and B-H stock applicable to your partnership interest and subsequently advise you of your tax basis and acquisition date attributable to the stock. Such shares will be "legended" as described in the enclosed letter from Monen, Seidler & Ryan. These stock certificates are valuable and should be kept in a safe place.
大约在1月中旬（一旦计算出确切的金额，并在从过户代理处收到以你们的名义登记的股票时），我们将按照你们的合伙权益向你们分配多元零售和伯克希尔的股票，并随后告知你们股票的计税基础和购买日期。就像Monen, Seidler & Ryan公司信函中描述的那样，这些股票是“限售”股。这些股票证书价值不菲，应妥善保管。
In past letters I had expressed the hope that BPL could supply a mechanism whereby you could, if you wished, automatically convert your DRC and B-H to cash. I have had two law firms consider extensively the status of these shares in your hands following the liquidation and the accompanying letters (which should be saved and kept with the shares) give their conclusions. As you can see, it is not an area that produces simple, clear-cut guidelines. I see no prudent way to implement the alternatives I had previously been considering. Therefore, you must follow the guidelines they set forth if you wish to dispose of your shares. As you probably realize, the restrictions on subsequent sale apply more severely to Susie and me (because of my continued "insider" position) than they probably do to you. Substantial quantities of securities often are sold via the "private sale" option described in paragraph (3) of the opinion. If the rules become clearer or more simplified in the future, I will be sure to let you know.
在过去的信件中，我曾表示希望巴菲特合伙公司能提供一种机制，如果你们愿意，可以将你们的多元零售和伯克希尔的股票自动转换为现金。在审核清算程序和随附信件（应与股份一起保存）之后，我们聘请的两家律师事务所对于你们即将分到的股票的状况，给出了相关的结论。正如你们所看到的，这不是一个能产生简单明了的指导方针的领域。我看不出有什么更审慎的方法可以实施我之前考虑的替代方案。因此，如果你们想处置股票，就必须遵循他们提出的指导原则。正如你们可能意识到的那样，对我和Susie（因为我一直处于 "内部人 “地位）的后续出售限制比对你的限制更为严格。大量的股票通常会通过意见书第（3）段所述的“私下出售”方式出售。如果将来规则变得更清晰或更简化，我一定会告诉你。
At the time of distribution of DRC and B-H, I will advise you of the values applied to such shares at 1969 yearend. You will receive our audit and tax letter about the end of January. It presently appears that sale of our Blue Chip shares and a substantial increase in value of DRC and B- H will bring our overall gain for the year to slightly over 6%.
在分配多元零售和伯克希尔时，我会告知你们这些股票在1969年底的价值。你们将在1月底左右收到我们的审计和税务信件。目前看来，出售我们的蓝筹印花后，再加上多元零售和伯克希尔价值的大幅增长将使我们今年的总收益略高于 6%。
My next letter will be in late December, summarizing the questions and answers regarding DRC and B-H. and also supplying a final estimate on the January 5th cash distribution.
12月底我会再写一封信，叙述关于多元零售和伯克希尔的问题和回答，同时也会对1月5日的现金分配情况进行最后的估算。
Warren E. Buffett
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