Warren Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc reported a smaller profit for the first quarter, as reinsurance losses from the March 11 earthquake in Japan dragged down results.

Buffett preannounced the figures at last Saturday's annual meeting of Berkshire, the ice-cream-to-insurance giant the world's third-richest man controls.

Berkshire reported a net profit of $1.51 billion, or $917 per Class A share, compared with a profit of $3.63 billion, or $2,272 per Class A share, a year earlier.

The conglomerate reported $41.18 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of the quarter.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz, editing by Bernard Orr)

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