1983年巴菲特财务报告(编辑修改稿)

1983年巴菲特财务报告(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

dream Nebraska Furniture Mart. 而後在賣了許多年二手衣後， 1937 年靠著省吃簡用存下的 500 美金她實現夢想開了 一家家具店，參酌當時全美最大家具交易中心 芝加哥 American Furniture Mart， 她將之命名為 Nebraska Furniture Mart。 She met every obstacle you would expect (and a few you wouldn’t) when a business endowed with only $500 and no locational or product advantage goes up against rich, longentrenched petition. At one early point, when her tiny resources ran out, “Mrs. B” (a personal trademark now as well recognized in Greater Omaha as CocaCola or Sanka) coped in a way not taught at business schools: she simply sold the furniture and appliances from her home in order to pay creditors precisely as promised. 爾後她遭遇到你所能預期的各種困難 (也包括你想不到的 )，以 500 美金起家沒有任何 產品或地緣優勢地去對抗資金雄厚、經營已久的同業競爭，在早期當她有限的資源損 耗怠盡時， B 太太 (這個個人商標在大 Omaha 地區與可口可樂齊名 )甚至把家中所有值 錢的東西變賣一空以維持信譽。 Omaha retailers began to recognize that Mrs. B would offer customers far better deals than they had been giving, and they pressured furniture and carpet manufacturers not to sell to her. But by various strategies she obtained merchandise and cut prices sharply. Mrs. B was then hauled into court for violation of Fair Trade laws. She not only won all the cases, but received invaluable publicity. At the end of one case, after demonstrating to the court that she could profitably sell carpet at a huge discount from the prevailing price, she sold the judge $1400 worth of carpet. Omaha 的零售商在發現到 B 太太可以給顧客更低的價格時，便聯手向家具及地毯工 廠施壓不要供貨給 B 太太，但靠著各種不同的方法，她還是取得貨源並大幅降價，甚 至因而被告到法院違反公平交易法，但最後不但贏得所有官司更大大打開了知名度， 其中有一個案件，在法庭中為了證明即使以現行市價打一個大折扣後，她仍有所獲利， 結果她賣了一條 1,400 美元的地毯給法官。 Today Nebraska Furniture Mart generates over $100 million of sales annually out of one 200,000 squarefoot store. No other home furnishings store in the country es close to that volume. That single store also sells more furniture, carpets, and appliances than do all Omaha petitors bined. 今天 Nebraska Furniture 一家 20 萬平方呎的店面，年銷售額卻高 達一億美金，全 美沒有任何一家零售家具店可以比得上，它所賣的家具、地毯與家電用品比 Omaha 所有其他業者加起來還多。 One question I always ask myself in appraising a business is how I would like, assuming I had ample capital and skilled personnel, to pete with it. I’d rather wrestle grizzlies than pete with Mrs. B and her progeny. They buy brilliantly, they operate at expense ratios petitors don’t even dream about, and they then pass on to their customers much of the savings. It’s the ideal business one built upon exceptional value to the customer that in turn translates into exceptional economics for its owners. 當我們在評斷一家公司的企業價值時，我常常會問自己一個問題 :「假設我有足夠的資 金與人才時，我願不願意和這家公司競爭」，我寧願和大灰熊摔角也不願和 B 太太家 族競爭，他們採購有一套，營業費用低到其競爭對手想都想不到的程度，然後再將所 省下的每一分錢回饋給客人，這是一家理想的企業，建立在為客戶創造價值並轉化為 對所有者的經濟利益的基礎上。 Mrs. B is wise as well as smart and, for farsighted family reasons, was willing to sell the business last year. I had admired both the family and the business for decades, and a deal was quickly made. But Mrs. B, now 90, is not one to go home and risk, as she puts it, “losing her marbles”. She remains Chairman and is on the sales floor seven days a week. Carpet sales are her specialty. She personally sells quantities that would be a good departmental total for other carpet retailers. B 太太憑藉其高瞻遠矚與家族因素考量終於決定於去年出售公司給我們，我對這個家 族與其事業已欣賞了數十年，所以整個交易很快便敲定，但 B 太太並沒有馬上回家休 息，免得如同她所說的失去鬥志，相反的她仍持續擔任公司的負責人，在每週七天都 待在賣場，其中銷售地毯更是她的擅長，一個人的業績便足以打敗所有其它零售業者。 We purchased 90% of the business leaving 10% with members of the family who are involved in management and have optioned 10% to certain key young family managers. 我們一共買下九成股權，剩下的一成由原有管理公司的家族成員擁有，另還預留一成 的認購權給有潛力的年輕人。 And what managers they are. Geicists should do handsprings over the Blumkin family. Louie Blumkin, Mrs. B’s son, has been President of Nebraska Furniture Mart for many years and is widely regarded as the shrewdest buyer of furniture and appliances in the country. Louie says he had the best teacher, and Mrs. B says she had the best student. They’re both right. Louie and his three sons all have the Blumkin business ability, work ethic, and, most important, character. On top of that, they are really nice people. We are delighted to be in partnership with them. 遺傳學家應好好研究 Blumkin 家族為何皆能成為優秀的經理人， Louie Blumkin B 太太的兒子擔任 Nebraska Furniture 的總經理已有好多年且被公認為最精明的家具 與家電用品的最佳採購者，他說因為他有最好的老師，而 B 太太則說她有最優秀的學 生，兩者的說法完全正確， Louie 跟他三個兒子皆繼承了 Blumkin 家族優秀的管理能 力、勤奮工作與最重要的正直的人格特質，他們實在是不錯的合夥人，很高興能與他 們一起合作。 Corporate Performance 企業表現 During 1983 our book value increased from $ per share to $ per share, or by 32%. We never take the oneyear figure very seriously. After all, why should the time required for a pla to circle the sun synchronize precisely with the time required for business actions to pay off? Instead, we remend not less than a fiveyear test as a rough yardstick of economic performance. Red lights should start flashing if the fiveyear average annual gain falls much below the return on equity earned over the period by American industry in aggregate. (Watch out for our explanation if that occurs as Goethe observed, “When ideas fail, words e in very handy.”) 1983 年公司的淨值由原來每股 737 美元增加成為 975 美元，約成長32%，但我們 從未把單一年度的數字表現看得太認真，畢竟沒有什麼道理要把企業反映盈餘的期間 與地球繞行太陽公轉的週期劃上等號，反 而我們建議至少以五年為一週期來評斷企業 整體的表現，若五年平均利得要比美國企業平均來得差時，便要開始注意了 (就像 Goethe 所觀察到的，到時要注意我們所提出的解釋，萬一要是失敗了，解釋的理由 可能會有一大堆 )。 During the 19year tenure of present management, book value has grown from $ per share to $, or % pounded annually. Considering our present size, nothing close to this rate of return can be sustained. Those who believe otherwise should pursue a career in sales, but avoid one in mathematics. 在現有經營階層過去十九年的任期內，帳面價值由 19 美元增加成為975 美元，約以 %年複合成長率成長，考量到我們現有的規模，未來可。