Title insurer and information services provider First American Corp. posted first-quarter net income of $83.8 million, a 23.6 percent increase from the same quarter last year, thanks in part to a major acquisition.
Revenue was also up 5.5 percent, to $2.11 billion, despite a slight drop in revenue from the company’s biggest business, title insurance, the company reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
First American completed eight acquisitions in the first quarter, including CoreLogic Systems Inc., which provides mortgage risk assessment and fraud prevention services.
First American, which owns a majority stake in CoreLogic through FARES LLC, a joint venture with Experian, combined CoreLogic into its First American Real Estate Solutions division on Feb. 2. The merger boosted first-quarter profits by $36.1 million.
The results of the combined company, First American CoreLogic, are reported in First American’s property information segment. The segment posted $198 million in operating revenue in the quarter, up 47 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
Title insurance and services remains First American’s largest source of operating revenue, at $1.4 billion, down 2.1 percent from the first quarter of 2006.
Although First American closed 458,900 direct title orders in the quarter — up 7.7 percent from a year ago — the average revenue per order was down 4.9 percent, to $1,541.
The company’s First Advantage segment generated $215 million in operating revenue, mortgage information $129 million, and specialty insurance $76 million.
