Notes payable and other borrowings

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Note 15. Notes payable and other borrowings

Notes payable and other borrowings are summarized below (in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges shown in the following tables are based on borrowings as of March 31, 2014.


	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
Insurance and other:
Issued by Berkshire due 2014-2047		2.7%	$	8,305	$	8,311
Short-term subsidiary borrowings		0.3%		978		949
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2014-2035		6.0%		3,165		3,180

			$	12,448	$	12,440


	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Energy and its subsidiaries:
Berkshire Hathaway Energy senior unsecured debt due 2017-2043		5.7%	$	6,366	$	6,616
Subsidiary and other debt due 2014-2043		5.3%		23,436		23,033
Issued by BNSF due 2014-2097		5.2%		17,949		17,006

			$	47,751	$	46,655

Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary debt represents amounts issued pursuant to separate financing agreements. All, or substantially all, of the assets of certain Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiaries are, or may be, pledged or encumbered to support or otherwise secure the debt. These borrowing arrangements generally contain various covenants including, but not limited to, leverage ratios, interest coverage ratios and debt service coverage ratios. In the first quarter of 2014, Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiaries issued term debt of $425 million.

In March 2014, BNSF issued $500 million of 3.75% debentures due in 2024 and $1.0 billion of 4.9% debentures due in 2044. BNSF’s borrowings are primarily unsecured. As of March 31, 2014, BNSF and Berkshire Hathaway Energy and their subsidiaries were in compliance with all applicable debt covenants. Berkshire does not guarantee any debt or other borrowings of BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Energy or their subsidiaries.


	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
Finance and financial products:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”) due 2014-2043		3.3%	$	11,177	$	11,178
Issued by other subsidiaries due 2014-2036		4.9%		1,847		1,951

			$	13,024	$	13,129

The borrowings of BHFC, a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Berkshire, are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Berkshire. In January 2014, $750 million of BHFC senior notes matured and BHFC issued $750 million of new senior notes to replace maturing notes. The new senior notes consisted of $650 million of floating rate notes due in 2017 and $100 million of 2% notes due in 2018.

Our subsidiaries have approximately $6.2 billion in the aggregate of unused lines of credit and commercial paper capacity at March 31, 2014, to support short-term borrowing programs and provide additional liquidity. In addition to borrowings of BHFC, Berkshire guaranteed other subsidiary borrowings, which aggregated approximately $4.0 billion at March 31, 2014. Generally, Berkshire’s guarantee of a subsidiary’s debt obligation is an absolute, unconditional and irrevocable guarantee for the full and prompt payment when due of all present and future payment obligations.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants.

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