EX-99.1 2 d914888dex991.htm EX-99.1 EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

 

LOGO

  NEWS   

FOR

IMMEDIATE

RELEASE

 

FIRST AMERICAN FINANCIAL REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2015 RESULTS

Reports Earnings of 34 Cents per Diluted Share

SANTA ANA, Calif., April 23, 2015 – 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 first quarter ended March 31, 2015.

Current Quarter Highlights

 

  Total revenue of $1.1 billion, up 10 percent compared with last year

 

    Direct title orders closed were up 15 percent, driven by a 62 percent increase in refinance orders

 

    Average revenue per direct title order closed was up 8 percent

 

  Title Insurance and Services segment pretax margin of 6.8 percent

 

  Commercial revenue of $148.5 million, up 28 percent compared with last year

 

  Specialty Insurance segment total revenue was up 8 percent, with a pretax margin of 18.2 percent

Selected Financial Information

($ in millions, except per share data)

 

     For the Three Months Ended
March 31
 
     2015      2014  

Total revenue

   $ 1,111.1       $ 1,012.8   

Income before taxes

     58.9         35.3   

Net income

   $ 37.6       $ 21.7   

Net income per diluted share

     0.34         0.20   

Total revenue for the first quarter of 2015 was $1.1 billion, an increase of 10 percent relative to the first quarter of 2014. Net income in the current quarter was $37.6 million, or 34 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $21.7 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2014. Net realized investment gains and losses were immaterial in both the current and prior periods.

“We saw significant improvement in our first-quarter earnings as compared with last year, driven by strength in the commercial and refinance markets and by our continued focus on cost efficiency,” said Dennis J. Gilmore, chief executive officer at First American Financial Corporation. “Our commercial business surpassed our expectations with revenues up 28 percent, and our refinance business performed well in the low mortgage rate environment. I am also encouraged that purchase transactions gained momentum throughout the quarter as we moved into the spring selling season. Our specialty insurance segment delivered good first-quarter results, driven by lower claims and strong margins in our home warranty business.

“We expect the housing market will continue to strengthen with further growth in home sales and increasing home prices. While market uncertainty remains, we believe the outlook is promising and our strategic position is strong. Looking forward, we will continue to focus on growing our core title business, providing innovative solutions to our lender customers, and driving operating efficiencies.”

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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Title Insurance and Services

($ in millions, except average revenue per order)

 

     For the Three Months Ended
March 31
 
     2015     2014  

Total revenue

   $ 1,019.8      $ 925.3   

Income before taxes

   $ 69.5      $ 42.6   

Pretax margin

     6.8     4.6

Direct open orders

     337,000        271,200   

Direct closed orders

     207,600        180,100   

U.S. Commercial

    

Total revenue

   $ 148.5      $ 115.7   

Open orders

     32,500        29,000   

Closed orders

     18,300        17,700   

Average revenue per order

   $ 8,100      $ 6,500   

Total revenue for the Title Insurance and Services segment was $1.0 billion, a 10 percent increase from the same quarter of 2014. Direct premiums and escrow fees were up 23 percent from the first quarter of 2014, driven by a 15 percent increase in the number of direct title orders closed in the quarter and an 8 percent increase in the average revenue per direct title order to $1,865. The increase in revenue per direct title order closed was primarily attributable to an increase in the number of large commercial deals closed in the quarter and higher real estate values, partially offset by an increase in the mix of direct revenues generated from lower-premium refinance transactions. Agent premiums were up 1 percent in the current quarter compared with last year.

Information and other revenue was $145.9 million this quarter, up 6 percent compared with the same quarter of last year. The increase was driven by the impact of recent acquisitions, partially offset by lower demand for the company’s default information products as a result of the decline in loss mitigation activities during the quarter.

Investment income was $21.8 million in the first quarter, up 39 percent from the first quarter of 2014. The increase was primarily due to higher interest income driven by growth in the size of the investment portfolio. Net realized investment losses totaled $2.6 million in the current quarter, compared with gains of $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2014.

Personnel costs were $331.4 million in the first quarter, an increase of $31.1 million, or 10 percent, compared with the same quarter of 2014. Excluding the $8.0 million impact of recent acquisitions, personnel costs increased by $23.1 million, or 8 percent. This increase was primarily attributable to higher incentive compensation due to higher revenue and profitability, and increased overtime expense due to higher order volumes.

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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Other operating expenses were $188.7 million in the first quarter, up $18.7 million, or 11 percent, compared with the first quarter of 2014. Excluding the $6.3 million impact of recent acquisitions, other operating expenses increased by $12.4 million, or 7 percent. 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 $55.6 million in the first quarter, or 6.5 percent of title premiums and escrow fees, an increase of $9.3 million compared with the same quarter of the prior year. The current quarter rate reflects an ultimate loss rate of 6.0 percent for the current policy year and a $4.3 million net increase in the loss reserve estimates for prior policy years.

Pretax income for the Title Insurance and Services segment was $69.5 million in the first quarter, compared with $42.6 million in the first quarter of 2014. Pretax margin was 6.8 percent in the current quarter, compared with 4.6 percent last year.

Specialty Insurance

($ in millions)

 

     For the Three Months Ended
March 31
 
     2015     2014  

Total revenue

   $ 94.5      $ 87.1   

Income before taxes

   $ 17.2      $ 13.9   

Pretax margin

     18.2     16.0

Total revenue for the Specialty Insurance segment was $94.5 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 8 percent compared with the first quarter of 2014. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by higher premiums earned in both the home warranty and the property and casualty business lines. In addition, net realized investment gains in the current quarter were $1.6 million, compared with gains of $0.4 million in same quarter last year. The loss ratio in the Specialty Insurance segment was 51 percent in the current quarter, compared with 52 percent in the prior year. The improvement in the loss ratio was primarily driven by lower claim severity and higher average premium per service contract in the home warranty business. As a result, the pretax margin in the current quarter increased to 18.2 percent from 16.0 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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Teleconference/Webcast

First American’s first quarter 2015 results will be discussed in more detail on Thursday, April 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 May 7, 2015, by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID 13606835. 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 the outlook for the housing market, including home prices and home purchase and refinance transaction volumes; the company’s ability to capitalize on the housing recovery; the effects of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rules; and our 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

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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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-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, 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, adjusted personnel costs, adjusted other operating costs 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.

 

Media Contact:

Marcus Ginnaty

Corporate Communications

First American Financial Corporation

714-250-3298

Investor Contact:

Craig Barberio

Investor Relations

First American Financial Corporation

714-250-5214

(Additional Financial Data Follows)

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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First American Financial Corporation

Summary of Consolidated Financial Results and Selected Information

(in thousands, except per share amounts and title orders)

(unaudited)

 

     For the Three Months Ended
March 31
 
     2015      2014  

Total revenues

   $ 1,111,084       $ 1,012,799   

Income before income taxes

   $ 58,948       $ 35,253   

Income tax expense

     21,152         13,401   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income

  37,796      21,852   

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

  164      128   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income attributable to the Company

$ 37,632    $ 21,724   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income per share attributable to stockholders:

Basic

$ 0.35    $ 0.20   

Diluted

$ 0.34    $ 0.20   

Cash dividends declared per share

$ 0.25    $ 0.36   

Weighted average common shares outstanding:

Basic

  107,744      106,166   

Diluted

  109,444      108,276   

Selected Title Information

Title orders opened

  337,000      271,200   

Title orders closed

  207,600      180,100   

Paid title claims

$ 89,168    $ 77,930   

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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First American Financial Corporation

Selected Balance Sheet Information

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

 

     March 31,
2015
     December 31,
2014
 

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 878,397       $ 1,190,080   

Investment portfolio

     4,501,410         4,033,892   

Goodwill and other intangible assets, net

     1,036,336         1,015,757   

Total assets

     7,819,492         7,666,100   

Reserve for claim losses

     946,847         1,011,780   

Notes and contracts payable

     585,551         587,337   

Total stockholders’ equity

   $ 2,603,936       $ 2,572,917   

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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First American Financial Corporation

Segment Information

(in thousands, unaudited)

 

For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2015

   Consolidated     Title
Insurance
    Specialty
Insurance
     Corporate
(incl. Elims.)
 

Revenues

         

Direct premiums and escrow fees

   $ 518,504      $ 428,351      $ 90,153       $ —     

Agent premiums

     426,327        426,327        —           —     

Information and other

     146,648        145,884        771         (7

Net investment income

     20,558        21,774        2,001         (3,217

Net realized investment (losses) gains(1)

     (953     (2,563     1,610         —     
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 
  1,111,084      1,019,773      94,535      (3,224
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Expenses

Personnel costs

  358,000      331,371      15,369      11,260   

Premiums retained by agents

  342,460      342,460      —        —     

Other operating expenses

  208,557      188,742      13,347      6,468   

Provision for policy losses and other claims

  101,554      55,550      46,004      —     

Depreciation and amortization

  20,854      19,526      1,206      122   

Premium taxes

  13,469      12,031      1,438      —     

Interest

  7,242      591      —        6,651   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 
  1,052,136      950,271      77,364      24,501   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Income (loss) before income taxes

$ 58,948    $ 69,502    $ 17,171    $ (27,725
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2014

   Consolidated      Title
Insurance
     Specialty
Insurance
     Corporate
(incl. Elims.)
 

Revenues

           

Direct premiums and escrow fees

   $ 433,872       $ 349,363       $ 84,509       $ —     

Agent premiums

     420,924         420,924         —           —     

Information and other

     137,642         137,178         470         (6

Net investment income

     17,767         15,703         1,729         335   

Net realized investment gains(1)

     2,594         2,161         433         —     
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
  1,012,799      925,329      87,141      329   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Expenses

Personnel costs

  326,518      300,279      15,514      10,725   

Premiums retained by agents

  336,665      336,665      —        —     

Other operating expenses

  188,367      170,082      11,468      6,817   

Provision for policy losses and other claims

  89,883      46,216      43,667      —     

Depreciation and amortization

  19,972      17,914      1,239      819   

Premium taxes

  12,290      10,936      1,354      —     

Interest

  3,851      600      —        3,251   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
  977,546      882,692      73,242      21,612   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Income (loss) before income taxes

$ 35,253    $ 42,637    $ 13,899    $ (21,283
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

(1) Includes impairment losses recorded in earnings, except for impairments on investments accounted for under the equity method, which are recorded in investment income.

 

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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First American Financial Corporation

Expense and Success Ratio Reconciliation

Title Insurance and Services Segment

($ in thousands, unaudited)

 

     For the Three Months Ended
March 31
 
     2015     2014  

Total revenues

   $ 1,019,773      $ 925,329   

Less: Net realized investment (losses) gains

     (2,563     2,161   

Net investment income

     21,774        15,703   

Premiums retained by agents

     342,460        336,665   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net operating revenues

$ 658,102    $ 570,800   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Personnel and other operating expenses

$ 520,113    $ 470,361   

Ratio (% net operating revenues)

  79.0   82.4

Ratio (% total revenues)

  51.0   50.8

Change in net operating revenues

$ 87,302   

Change in personnel and other operating expenses

  49,752   

Success Ratio (1)

  57

 

(1) Change in personnel and other operating expenses divided by change in net operating revenues

 

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First American Financial Reports First Quarter 2015 Results

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First American Financial Corporation

Supplemental Direct Title Order Information

(unaudited)

 

     Q115     Q414     Q314     Q214     Q114  

Open Orders per Day

          

Purchase

     2,002        1,611        2,033        2,189        1,892   

Refinance

     2,379        1,627        1,521        1,554        1,397   

Refinance as % of residential orders

     54     50     43     42     42

Commercial

     532        505        485        528        475   

Other1

     612        522        609        701        682   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total open orders per day

  5,525      4,263      4,648      4,972      4,446   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Closed Orders per Day

Purchase

  1,247      1,420      1,573      1,579      1,217   

Refinance

  1,471      1,122      1,113      983      907   

Refinance as % of residential orders

  54   44   41   38   43

Commercial

  300      330      308      306      290   

Other1

  386      377      404      479      538   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total closed orders per day

  3,403      3,249      3,397      3,347      2,952   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Average Revenue per Order (ARPO)2

Purchase

$ 1,921    $ 1,944    $ 1,950    $ 1,918    $ 1,799   

Refinance

  880      869      857      812      813   

Commercial

  8,117      9,558      7,568      6,746      6,530   

Other1

  580      437      480      488      489   

Total ARPO

$ 1,865    $ 2,171    $ 1,926    $ 1,830    $ 1,723   

Business Days

  61      63      64      64      61   

 

(1) Includes default and other orders
(2) U.S. operations only

Totals may not foot due to rounding

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