Berkshire Hathaway accelerates stock buybacks, operating profit falls

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported a lower third-quarter operating profit as insurance underwriting results declined, and said it bought back $9.6 billion of stock in the quarter.

The repurchases are in addition to the $4.8 billion of stock that Berkshire repurchased earlier this year.

Quarterly operating profit fell 6% to $12.71 billion, or about $8,954 per Class A share, from $13.49 billion a year earlier.

Net income fell 28% to $22.11 billion, including unrealized gains and losses on stocks that Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire still owns.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Tomasz Janowski)