First American Financial Reports Second Quarter 2015 Results

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF), a leading global provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Download the complete press release as a PDF (71KB)

Current Quarter Highlights

• Total revenue of $1.3 billion, up 15 percent compared with last year
  • Direct title orders closed were up 15 percent
  • Average revenue per direct title order closed was up 7 percent
• Title Insurance and Services segment pretax margin of 12.6 percent
• Commercial revenue of $170.1 million, up 29 percent compared with last year
• Specialty Insurance segment total revenue was up 7 percent, with a pretax margin of 10.8 percent
• Cash flow from operations of $233.3 million compared with $149.5 million last year

Total revenue for the second quarter of 2015 was $1.3 billion, an increase of 15 percent relative to the second quarter of 2014. Net income in the current quarter was $93.3 million, or 85 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $50.6 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2014. The current quarter results include net realized investment gains of $3.9 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, compared with gains of $6.3 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter of last year.

“Our strong second quarter results were driven by a healthy spring selling season, continued growth in our commercial business and elevated refinance activity,” said Dennis J. Gilmore, chief executive officer at First American Financial Corporation. “Our steady focus on operating efficiency enabled us to deliver strong margins and earnings in this favorable market environment.

“We expect that an improving economy will continue to bolster the housing market. Moving forward, we remain focused on creating shareholder value by growing our core title business, leveraging our unique collection of data assets and prudently managing our capital.”

Total revenue for the Title Insurance and Services segment was $1.2 billion, a 16 percent increase from the same quarter of 2014. Direct premiums and escrow fees were up 20 percent from the second quarter of 2014, driven by a 15 percent increase in the number of direct title orders closed in the quarter and a 7 percent increase in the average revenue per direct title order to $1,953. The increase in revenue per direct title order closed was primarily attributable to an increase in the average size of commercial deals closed in the quarter and higher real estate values, partially offset by a shift in the mix toward lower-premium refinance transactions. Agent premiums were up 17 percent in the current quarter compared with last year.

Information and other revenue was $169.7 million this quarter, up 3 percent compared with the same quarter of last year. Excluding the impact of a recent acquisition, information and other revenue was essentially flat. The quarter benefitted from higher demand for certain non-insured products and services, reflecting growth in transaction activity, largely offset by lower demand for the company’s default information products.

Investment income was $26.0 million in the second quarter, up 34 percent from the second quarter of 2014. The increase was primarily due to higher interest income driven by growth in average invested balances in the debt securities portfolio and higher earnings in investments accounted for using the equity method. Net realized investment gains totaled $4.2 million in the current quarter, compared with gains of $4.3 million in the second quarter of 2014.

Personnel costs were $370.5 million in the second quarter, an increase of $43.2 million, or 13 percent, compared with the same quarter of 2014. This increase was primarily attributable to higher incentive compensation expense driven by higher revenue and profitability in the current quarter.

Other operating expenses were $205.3 million in the second quarter, up $8.3 million, or 4 percent, compared with the second quarter of 2014. This increase was primarily due to higher production-related expenses and temporary labor costs driven by the increase in order volumes in the current quarter.

The provision for policy losses and other claims was $66.7 million in the second quarter, or 6.5 percent of title premiums and escrow fees, a decline of $10.4 million compared with the same quarter of the prior year. The current quarter rate includes an ultimate loss rate of 6.0 percent for the current policy year.

Pretax income for the Title Insurance and Services segment was $154.7 million in the second quarter, compared with $84.8 million in the second quarter of 2014. Pretax margin was 12.6 percent in the current quarter, compared with 8.0 percent last year.

Total revenue for the Specialty Insurance segment was $97.7 million in the second quarter of 2015, an increase of 7 percent compared with the second quarter of 2014. The increase in revenue was driven by higher premiums earned in both the home warranty and the property and casualty business lines. The loss ratio in the Specialty Insurance segment was 59.5 percent in the current quarter, compared with 58.5 percent in the prior year. The increase in the loss ratio was primarily attributable to higher weather-related claims in the home warranty business. As a result, the pretax margin in the current quarter declined to 10.8 percent from 12.1 percent in the second quarter of 2014.

Teleconference/Webcast

First American’s second quarter 2015 results will be discussed in more detail on Thursday, July 23, 2015, at 11 a.m. EDT, via teleconference. The toll-free dial-in number is 877-407-8293. Callers from outside the United States may dial 201-689-8349.

The live audio webcast of the call will be available on First American’s website at www.firstam.com/investor. An audio replay of the conference call will be available through August 6, 2015, by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID 13614230. An audio archive of the call will also be available on First American’s investor website.

About First American

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF) is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions that traces its heritage back to 1889. First American also provides title plant management services; title and other real property records and images; valuation products and services; home warranty products; property and casualty insurance; and banking, trust and investment advisory services. With revenues of $4.7 billion in 2014, the company offers its products and services directly and through its agents throughout the United States and abroad. More information about the company can be found at www.firstam.com.

Website Disclosure

First American posts information of interest to investors at www.firstam.com/investor. This includes opened and closed title insurance order counts for its U.S. direct title insurance operations, which are posted approximately 12 days after the end of each month.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this press release and the related management commentary and responses to investor questions, including but not limited to those related to an improving economy; the outlook for the housing market, including refinance transaction volumes and sustained growth in the purchase market; creating shareholder value, including through growth in the core title business, leveraging data assets and managing capital; expense management; the outlook for the commercial market; the company’s ability to capitalize on an improving housing market; the effects of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rules; and the expected normalized tax rate, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may contain the words “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “predict,” “estimate,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” or other similar words and phrases. Risks and uncertainties exist that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the anticipated results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements include: interest rate fluctuations; changes in the performance of the real estate markets; volatility in the capital markets; unfavorable economic conditions; impairments in the company’s goodwill or other intangible assets; failures at financial institutions where the company deposits funds; changes in applicable government regulations; heightened scrutiny by legislators and regulators of the company’s title insurance and services segment and certain other of the company’s businesses; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s exercise of its broad rulemaking and supervisory powers; compliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rules; regulation of title insurance rates; reform of government-sponsored mortgage enterprises; limitations on access to public records and other data; changes in relationships with large mortgage lenders and government-sponsored enterprises; changes in measures of the strength of the company’s title insurance underwriters, including ratings and statutory capital and surplus; losses in the company’s investment portfolio; expenses of and funding obligations to the pension plan; material variance between actual and expected claims experience; defalcations, increased claims or other costs and expenses attributable to the company’s use of title agents; any inadequacy in the company’s risk mitigation efforts; systems damage, failures, interruptions and intrusions, wire transfer errors or unauthorized data disclosures; inability to realize the benefits of the company’s offshore strategy; inability of the company’s subsidiaries to pay dividends or repay funds; inability to realize the benefits of, and challenges arising from, the company’s acquisition strategy; and other factors described in the company’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. The company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This news release and related management commentary contain certain financial measures that are not presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), including personnel and other operating expense ratios and success ratios. The company is presenting these non-GAAP financial measures because they provide the company’s management and investors with additional insight into the operational efficiency and performance of the company relative to earlier periods and relative to the company’s competitors. The company does not intend for these non-GAAP financial measures to be a substitute for any GAAP financial information. In this news release, these non-GAAP financial measures have been presented with, and reconciled to, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Investors should use these non-GAAP financial measures only in conjunction with the comparable GAAP financial measures.