Warren Buffett says $24 billion gain wasn’t good enough

In his highly anticipated annual shareholder letter, published Friday, famed investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. went straight to the bad news. Despite Berkshire (US:BRK.A) (US:BRK.B) achieving a $24.1 billion net gain for shareholders and the conglomerate’s book-value rising 14.4% in 2012, he deemed it a “subpar” performance.

“For the ninth time in 48 years, Berkshire’s percentage increase in book value was less than the S&P’s percentage gain (a calculation that includes dividends as well as price appreciation),” wrote Buffett, who for decades has measured Berkshire’s overall performance in terms of book value.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index (US:SPX) rose 16% last year, including dividends.