Berkshire CEO: Japan bond yields not yet a challenge for trading companies

PANews, September 2 — Greg Abel, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.N, BRK.B.N), said that rising Japanese bond yields have not affected the major Japanese trading companies in which the company holds stakes. Abel said that although Japan's high yields are currently a hot topic in the market, and Japan's 10-year government bond yield hit a 30-year high this week, the situation remains manageable, at least for the country's major trading companies. "None of the trading companies currently view this as a fundamental challenge." He added that Japanese bond yields "are still relatively moderate in absolute terms," and noted that although Japanese yields are already at multi-decade highs, they remain low compared with other global bond yields. Abel also said that despite higher Japanese bond yields, he expects Berkshire will still finance through yen-denominated debt issuance when appropriate.