All proceeds will be donated to CASA For Douglas County, Nebraska (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a charitable organization that provides a voice for abused and neglected children within the court system through the use of trained citizen volunteers.

"Business Wire is certainly excited about being present again at the Berkshire annual meeting and we look forward to meeting and greeting shareholders and helping out with a worthy cause like CASA," said Tamraz.

CASA was established in the Omaha area in 1998 upon the urgency of area judges. The idea of CASA first originated in the Seattle area, when a juvenile court judge felt that he was not sufficiently informed on a case involving an abused child. CASA was created under the premise that there must be an advocate for foster children within the court system - someone who will fight and keep the children's best interests at heart. It is the CASA volunteer that helps judges make good decisions on behalf of the abused and neglected children.

"CASA volunteers are ordinary people doing extraordinary work. They are a powerful voice in a foster child's life", said Nancy Wilson, Executive Director of CASA For Douglas County.

The cards are available on a first-come basis at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, which takes place Saturday, May 3 at the Qwest Center in Omaha.

About Business Wire

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is utilized by thousands of member companies and organizations to transmit their full-text news releases, regulatory filings, photos and other multimedia content to journalists, news media, trade publications, institutional and individual investors, financial information services, regulatory authorities, Internet portals, information web sites, business-to-business decision-makers and consumers worldwide. With a news distribution network spanning 150 countries and 45 languages, Business Wire's multi-channel delivery network has access to dozens of international and national news agency networks throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The Business Wire news network is powered by its patented NX high-speed data platform and supports XML, XHTML and XBRL code to deliver the most sophisticated news file to enhance news release interactivity, customization and search engine optimization. Business Wire has 31 bureaus in cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Brussels, Tokyo, Toronto and Sydney with reciprocal offices throughout the world. Business Wire was founded in 1961.

KEYWORDS: Berkshire Hathaway, Business Wire, CASA, Charity, Children's Charity, Collectibles, Fundraiser, Warren Buffett, Trading Cards, Omaha

SOURCE: Business Wire

Business Wire
Thomas Becktold, 310-820-9473
Thomas.becktold@businesswire.com

The mean estimate of four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for a per-share profit of $1,477.

The company said it recorded a $1.7 billion unrealized loss in its two major categories of derivatives. Berkshire's total first-quarter loss on its credit default swap positions was $490 million.

Revenue fell to $22.3 billion from $28.3 billion a year earlier.

The company's insurance underwriting operating earnings fell to $181 million from $601 million a year earlier. Its insurance investment operating income rose to $802 million from $748 million, and operating income from noninsurance businesses was $950 million versus $894 million a year ago.

Class A shares of the Omaha, Neb.-based insurance and diversified services and manufacturing company closed the regular session down $300 at $133,600. Brigid Gaffikin bg/gm/bg/gm

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Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

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Press enquiries Raymond Vermeulen ING Group +31 20 541 5682 Raymond.Vermeulen@ing.com

Profile ING ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over 75 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 130,000 people, ING is dedicated to setting the standard in helping our clients manage their financial future.

SOURCE: ING

The 2008 impact on results is related mainly to exchange rate changes, ING said.

ING said the proceeds of the sale will have a positive effect of about 170 million euros on its spare leverage.

Last December, ING said it would sell NRG, which had been in runoff, to Berkshire Hathaway in an effort to off-load some noncore liabilities and focus on its insurance, banking and asset management businesses (BestWire, Dec. 28, 2007).

According to ING, NRG was established in 1968 as Nederlandse Reassurantie Groep, the result of a merger between two Dutch reinsurers. ING became the majority shareholder in the reinsurer in 1974, and sole owner in 1991, following its acquisition of Victory Reinsurance Group from the United Kingdom's Legal & General Group.

In 1993, ING decided to put NRG into runoff, and stopped underwriting new business. NRG's life reinsurance subsidiaries were since sold and a number of its remaining insurance liabilities were successfully settled.

In 1995, NRG dropped negligence allegations against one of its advisors in the Victory acquisition, Swiss Bank Corp (BestWire, Aug. 1, 1995). NRG had brought negligence actions against Swiss Bank and two other advisors, actuary Bacon & Woodrow and auditor Ernst & Young, related to Victory liabilities that came to light following the acquisition.

Columbia Insurance Co. currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior).

(By David Pilla, international editor, BestWeek: David.Pilla@ambest.com)