Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Reports 2nd Quarter 2014 Adjusted Core EPS of $0.47; Adjusted Pre-Tax Title Margin of 14.6%; Black Knight Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 41%; Increased LPS Synergy Target of $315 Million and Reduced Title Claim Loss Expense of 6%

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 six-month periods ended June 30, 2014. 

Core Operations

• Total revenue of approximately $1.7 billion in the second quarter versus $1.6 billion in the second quarter of 2013
• Second quarter adjusted core diluted EPS of $0.47 versus adjusted core diluted EPS of $0.67 in the second quarter of 2013
• Adjusted EBITDA of $299 million for the second quarter versus adjusted EBITDA of $248 million for the second quarter of 2013
• Second quarter core free cash flow provided of $231 million versus $213 million provided in the second quarter of 2013

FNFV

• Total revenue of $686 million in the second quarter versus $650 million in the second quarter of 2013
• Adjusted EBITDA of $59 million in the second quarter versus $44 million in the second quarter of 2013
• Book value of approximately $1.44 billion, or $15.69 per diluted FNFV share

Core Operations

Title

• Approximately $1.5 billion in total revenue, adjusted pre-tax earnings of $214 million and adjusted pre-tax title margin of 14.6% for the second quarter versus approximately $1.6 billion in total revenue, adjusted pre-tax earnings of $269 million and an adjusted pre-tax title margin of 16.8% in the second quarter of 2013; adjusted pre-tax title margin showed sequential improvement of 910 basis points versus the first quarter of 2014
• ServiceLink generated $227 million in revenue, adjusted pre-tax earnings of $30 million and an adjusted pre-tax margin of 13.2%, a sequential margin improvement of 850 basis points from the first quarter of 2014
• Open title orders of 514,000 for the second quarter, a decrease of 158,000, or 24%, compared with the second quarter of 2013; open orders per day of 8,000 for the second quarter versus 10,500 open orders per day for the second quarter of 2013; 60% of second quarter open title orders were purchase related versus 42% in the second quarter of 2013
• Closed title orders of 342,000 for the second quarter, a decrease of 162,000, or 32%, compared with the second quarter of 2013; closed orders per day of 5,300 for the second quarter versus 7,900 closed orders per day for the second quarter of 2013; 61% of second quarter closed title orders were purchase related versus 40% in the second quarter of 2013
• Second quarter purchase orders opened increased by 7% and closed orders were flat, respectively, versus the second quarter of 2013; excluding ServiceLink default related purchase orders, purchase orders opened were essentially flat with the prior year
• Second quarter commercial title revenue of $115 million, a 3% increase from the second quarter of 2013, driven by an 8% improvement in the commercial fee per file slightly offset by a 4% decrease in closed orders; open commercial orders increased by 9% over the prior year
• Overall second quarter average fee per file of $1,982, a 27% increase over the second quarter of 2013
• Title claim loss expense reduced to 6% in the second quarter, a 100 basis point reduction from previous 7% level; 6% title claim loss expense expected for remainder of 2014

Black Knight

• Total revenue of $201 million, a sequential improvement of 7% versus the first quarter of 2014, led by mortgage servicing technology revenue of approximately $122 million
• Adjusted EBITDA of $84 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 41.0%, a 510 basis point sequential improvement from the first quarter of 2014

    

- The preceding table only includes commercial activity from FNF's commercial offices in the national commercial division and does not attempt to capture commercial activity in our local offices.

    

   

"This quarter highlighted the potential of our title business when we experience stable order volumes, as we generated a 14.6% pre-tax title margin while operating in a slow recovering purchase environment and a very soft refinance market," said Chairman William P. Foley, II.  "The 14.6% margin approached our normalized pre-tax title margin target of 15%-20%, despite operating in what is arguably less than a normal residential real estate market.  We believe this clearly shows that we are primed to benefit significantly from potential further improvement in the residential purchase market.

"Black Knight had another strong quarter, with revenue of $201 million, a 7% sequential improvement from the first quarter of 2014.  Adjusted EBITDA of $84 million generated a 41% adjusted EBITDA margin, a 510 basis point sequential improvement from the first quarter of 2014.  We remain excited about the recurring nature of the revenue, the market positioning of our product offerings, the significant organic revenue growth opportunities and the strong EBITDA margins that Black Knight brings to FNF.

"The integration of LPS continues to progress well, as we have now realized nearly $275 million of cost synergies on a run-rate basis as of the end of the second quarter. Additionally, we are confident in again increasing our total cost synergy target to $315 million.

"Finally, we distributed the stock of FNFV on June 30, 2014, and it began trading as a separate public company on the NYSE on July 1, 2014.  We are encouraged by the market's significant interest in FNFV and look forward to creating value for FNFV shareholders through the active management of the existing portfolio company investments, the potential monetization of portfolio company investments and future potential add-on or new investments."

Conference Calls
FNF will host a call with investors and analysts to discuss second quarter 2014 results on Thursday, July 31, 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 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on July 31, 2014, through August 7, 2014, by dialing 800-475-6701 (USA) or 320-365-3844 (International).  The access code will be 329754.

FNFV will host a call with investors and analysts to discuss second quarter 2014 results on Thursday, July 31, 2014, beginning at 12:00 p.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 2:00 p.m. Eastern time on July 31, 2014, through August 7, 2014, by dialing 800-475-6701 (USA) or 320-365-3844 (International).  The access code will be 332182.

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, Alamo Title and National Title of New York – 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.  More information about FNF can be found at www.fnf.com.

About FNFV
Fidelity National Financial Ventures (NYSE:FNFV) is a tracking stock designed to track and reflect the economic and financial performance of FNFV's portfolio company investments.  Those investments include Ceridian Corporation, a human resources and payroll processing company, Comdata, a provider of electronic payment solutions, American Blue Ribbon Holdings, the eighth largest full service restaurant company in the U.S., J. Alexander's, an upscale casual dining company, Remy International, a manufacturer, remanufacturer and distributor of vehicle starters and alternators and Digital Insurance, an employee benefits management company.  FNFV was distributed to FNF shareholders on June 30, 2014.

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 below.

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.