Fidelity Profits Jump In Q1 Earnings Report

Thanks to aggressive cost-savings initiatives, a more robust and profitable commercial pipelines and more closed orders, Fidelity National Financial’s title insurance segment brought in pretax earnings of $102 million in the first quarter (9.3 percent margin) and $1.1 billion in revenue. In Q1 2010, the company’s title insurance segment generated $1.08 billion in revenue and a pretax margin of 2.2 percent ($24 million).

“This was our strongest first quarter in a number of years, as our direct operations benefited from strong refinance closings early in the quarter and consistent closings throughout February and March," said Chairman William Foley II.

Order counts were relatively stable throughout the quarter, despite coming in under the open order count from 2010. But the open orders came through at a higher rate.

"It is clear our company's overall focus on the resale and commercial shares of the market has paid dividends, we are seeing a higher Fee Per File, due to the commercial and resale closings and our ability to staff accordingly puts us in a very competitive position over our competition. Also, we have really started to move towards more of a Real Estate Services Company, not just a Title Company" said Steve de Laveaga, SVP of Sales and Marketing of Fidelity National Title Maricopa County.



Source: The Title Report 4/29/2011