Berkshire Hathaway's profits double as shareholders gather for the annual meeting on Saturday

Berkshire Hathaway's first-quarter profit more than doubled as the value of its investments improved and most of its businesses reported higher earnings
Berkshire Hathaway 's first-quarter profit more than doubled as the value of its investments grew and most of its businesses improved.

This year's meeting is the first one that Buffett won't lead from the stage after Greg Abel was promoted to CEO in January.

Attendance at the meeting is expected to be down somewhat this year.

The paper value of Berkshire’s investments always has a major impact on its bottom line even though it hasn’t sold most of its stocks, but it did record a $5.8 billion gain on the stocks it did sell during the quarter.

The value of the portfolio did slip to just over $288 billion.

Berkshire’s massive cash pile continues to grow, and it hit $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Berkshire said its profits got a $249 million boost from its foreign currency holdings because of the exchange rate.

A year ago, Berkshire recorded a $713 million loss on foreign currencies.

Most of Berkshire's varied businesses reported better operating earnings this year.

The insurance unit that includes Geico and a number of other companies reported an underwriting profit of $1.7 billion, up from $1.34 billion last year.

Profits also grew somewhat at BNSF railroad and Berkshire's utility and manufacturing companies.