Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2013 Core EPS of $0.32, Adjusted Core EPS of $0.37 and Adjusted Pre-Tax Title Margin of 11%
Jacksonville, Fla. -- (February 12, 2014) -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), a leading provider of title insurance, technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries, today reported operating results for the three-month and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2013.
- Net earnings of $76 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter versus net earnings of $152 million, or $0.66 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2012
- Adjusted net earnings of $108 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter versus adjusted net earnings of $166 million, or $0.72 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2012
Due to the recent formation of Black Knight Financial Services, LLC ("Black Knight") and ServiceLink Holdings, LLC ("ServiceLink") as well as the announced future formation of the new tracking stock for Fidelity National Financial Ventures ("FNFV"), FNF will begin separately reporting on its core operations, which includes Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. ("FNT"), Black Knight and ServiceLink, and the portfolio company investments that will comprise FNFV in the future.
Core Operations
- Adjusted pre-tax title margin of 11.0% for the fourth quarter versus 16.0% in the fourth quarter of 2012
- Core diluted EPS of $0.32 for the fourth quarter versus $0.62 for the fourth quarter of 2012
- Adjusted fourth quarter core diluted EPS of $0.37, which excludes $3 million of after-tax purchase price amortization ($0.01 impact on diluted EPS), a $7 million after-tax executive separation charge ($0.03 impact on diluted EPS) and $3 million of after-tax expenses related to the Lender Processing Services, Inc. acquisition ($0.01 impact on diluted EPS) versus adjusted core diluted EPS of $0.64 in the fourth quarter of 2012
- Fourth quarter core free cash flow of $38 million versus $160 million in the fourth quarter of 2012
- Open title orders of 392,000 for the fourth quarter, a decrease of 285,000, or 42%, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012, reflecting a more than 60% decline in refinance orders in the fourth quarter of 2013 versus the prior year; open orders per day of 6,200 for the fourth quarter versus 10,700 open orders per day for the fourth quarter of 2012; 55% of fourth quarter open title orders were purchase related versus 32% in the fourth quarter of 2012
- Closed title orders of 307,000 for the fourth quarter, a decrease of 211,000, or 41%, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012; closed orders per day of 4,900 for the fourth quarter versus 8,200 closed orders per day for the fourth quarter of 2012; 56% of fourth quarter closed title orders were purchase related versus 33% in the fourth quarter of 2012
- Fourth quarter purchase orders opened and closed decreased by 3% and 2%, respectively, versus the fourth quarter of 2012
- Fourth quarter commercial title revenue of $146 million, a 2% decrease from the strong fourth quarter of 2012, driven by a 5% improvement in the commercial fee per file offset by a 6% decrease in closed orders; open commercial orders increased by 2% over the prior year
- Overall fourth quarter average fee per file of $2,082, a 33% increase over the fourth quarter of 2012 and a 15% sequential increase from the third quarter of 2013; residential and local commercial fee per file (excluding national commercial business) of $1,676 versus $1,312 for the fourth quarter of 2012, a 28% increase over the prior year period and a 7% sequential improvement versus the third quarter of 2013
The following are summary financial results for the core operations of FNF for the three-month and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2013 and 2012:
- The preceding table only includes commercial activity from FNF's commercial offices in the national commercial division and does not attempt to capture potential commercial activity in our local offices.
The following are summary financial results for the two major, consolidated portfolio company investments of FNF for the three-month and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2013 and 2012:
"The fourth quarter was a solid finish to a year of transition in our title insurance business, as we continued to move from a refinance driven market towards what appears to be a more purchase driven market," said Chairman William P. Foley, II. "While this quarter witnessed the majority of the revenue impact from the steep decline in refinance title orders that began during the summer, we were still able to generate an 11% adjusted pre-tax title margin for the fourth quarter and nearly 14% for the full-year 2013. In the face of these declining refinance order volumes, we continued to focus on our expense structure, as we eliminated over 700 positions during the fourth quarter and over 2,300 since our staffing peak in May 2013, a staff reduction of nearly 20%. We are confident these actions have us well positioned to maximize profitability in our title insurance business as we enter what looks to be a much more purchase driven market in 2014."
"We also were pleased to close the Lender Processing Services ("LPS") acquisition on January 2, 2014. We have separated the combined LPS and ServiceLink businesses into Black Knight Financial Services, our mortgage technology-focused company and ServiceLink, our transaction services businesses. The long process to closing gave us the opportunity to explore the cost synergy opportunities in more detail. To this point, we have recognized an estimated $150 million in annualized run-rate synergies and we are now targeting $225 million in total cost synergies. We are very excited about the future of the Black Knight and ServiceLink companies and look forward to their contribution to the continued success of FNF."
Conference Call
FNF will host a call with investors and analysts to discuss fourth quarter 2013 results on Thursday, February 13, 2014, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. A live webcast of the conference call will be available on the Events and Multimedia page of the FNF Investor Relations website at www.fnf.com. The conference call replay will be available via webcast through the FNF Investor Relations website at www.fnf.com. The telephone replay will be available from 12:00 p.m. Eastern time on February 13, 2014, through February 20, 2014, by dialing 800-475-6701 (USA) or 320-365-3844 (International). The access code will be 316606.
About FNF
Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), is a leading provider of title insurance, technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. FNF is the nation's largest title insurance company through its title insurance underwriters - Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title and Alamo Title - that collectively issue more title insurance policies than any other title company in the United States. FNF also provides industry-leading mortgage technology solutions and transaction services, including MSP®, the leading residential mortgage servicing technology platform in the U.S., through its majority-owned subsidiaries, Black Knight Financial Services, LLC and ServiceLink Holdings, LLC. In addition, FNF owns majority and minority equity investment stakes in a number of entities, including American Blue Ribbon Holdings, LLC, J. Alexander's, LLC, Remy International, Inc., Ceridian HCM, Inc., Comdata Inc. and Digital Insurance, Inc. More information about FNF can be found at www.fnf.com.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is the term used to refer to the standard framework of guidelines for financial accounting. GAAP includes the standards, conventions, and rules accountants follow in recording and summarizing transactions and in the preparation of financial statements. In addition to reporting financial results in accordance with GAAP, the Company has provided non-GAAP financial measures, which it believes are useful to help investors better understand its financial performance, competitive position and prospects for the future. These non-GAAP measures include earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA), adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation as a percent of adjusted revenue (Adjusted EBITDA margin), adjusted net earnings, adjusted EPS and free cash flow.
Any non-GAAP measures should be considered in context with the GAAP financial presentation and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP net earnings. Further, FNF's non-GAAP measures may be calculated differently from similarly titled measures of other companies. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to related GAAP measures are provided above.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The risks and uncertainties which forward-looking statements are subject to include, but are not limited to: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; weakness or adverse changes in the level of real estate activity, which may be caused by, among other things, high or increasing interest rates, a limited supply of mortgage funding or a weak U. S. economy; our potential inability to find suitable acquisition candidates, acquisitions in lines of business that will not necessarily be limited to our traditional areas of focus, or difficulties in integrating acquisitions; our dependence on distributions from our title insurance underwriters as a main source of cash flow; significant competition that our operating subsidiaries face; compliance with extensive government regulation of our operating subsidiaries; and other risks detailed in the "Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information," "Risk Factors" and other sections of the Company's Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE: Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
CONTACT: Daniel Kennedy Murphy, Senior Vice President and Treasurer, 904-854-8120, dkmurphy@fnf.com