Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has raised its stake in Japan's top five trading firms to around 9 percent, it said in its annual report.

Berkshire Hathaway's wholly owned subsidiary National Indemnity Company previously held about 7 percent to 8 percent in Mitsubishi Corp, Itochu Corp, Mitsui & Co, Sumitomo Corp and Marubeni Corp, according to filings made in June.

Berkshire first announced its stakes in the trading houses in 2020 with the intention of holding them long-term and increasing them to as much as 9.9 percent.

Bershire Hathaway said in the report, dated February 24, that it paid 1.6 trillion yen (US$10.63 billion) for the five stakes, which were valued at 2.9 trillion yen at the end of 2023. In dollar terms, that translated to unrealised gains of 61 percent or US$8 billion, it said. (Reuters)