Buffett remains hopeful for elephant-sized acquisition despite firm's huge Q4 loss in 2018

NEW YORK -- US business magnate Warren Buffett told shareholders on Saturday that he would continue to hope for "an elephant-sized acquisition" although his company recorded a loss of $25.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

"In the years ahead, we hope to move much of our excess liquidity into businesses that Berkshire will permanently own. The immediate prospects for that, however, are not good: Prices are sky-high for businesses possessing decent long-term prospects," Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, a Nebraska-based conglomerate that he takes charge.

The company suffered losses of $25.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, largely driven by the plunge in paper value of several of its stock investments, revealed its annual report released Saturday.

"That disappointing reality (sky-high businesses prices) means that 2019 will likely see us again expanding our holdings of marketable equities," said Buffett, who serves as chairman and CEO of the conglomerate, which owns more than 90 companies and has major investments in such companies as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Wells Fargo & Co.

"We continue, nevertheless, to hope for an elephant-sized acquisition. Even at our ages of 88 and 95 -- I'm the young one - that prospect is what causes my heart and Charlie's to beat faster," he noted in the letter, in reference to Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.