Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2010 EPS of $0.07

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF), a leading provider of title insurance, mortgage services, specialty insurance, claims management services and information services, today reported operating results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2010.

The following are summary financial and operational results for the operating segments of FNF for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2010 and 2009:

Fidelity National Title Group ("FNT")

- 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.

Specialty Insurance

"This quarter was a typical seasonally impacted beginning to the year, as we started slow in January coming out of the holiday season and built momentum as we made our way into the month of March," said Chairman William P. Foley, II.  "Open order counts were relatively stable during the quarter, after the first two weeks of January, as we averaged between 8,500 and 8,800 open orders per day from the second half of January through March.  Closed order counts were seasonally soft during the first quarter and were further impacted by new RESPA closing requirements.  We also continued to aggressively manage our cost structure in the first quarter, eliminating nearly 600 additional positions during those three months.  The two and a half months of consistent open order activity, the first quarter seasonal delay in order closings and the continued cost reductions should allow us to produce stronger results in the title business during the second quarter."

"We realized a significant gain from one distressed debt investment in our portfolio, MSX International.  We originally purchased the bonds during the first half of 2009 for a total purchase price of approximately $22 million.  In early March, we sold those bonds for total net proceeds of approximately $48 million, a pre-tax gain of $26 million."

During March, we amended and extended our existing credit facility, decreasing the total size of the facility from $1.1 billion to approximately $951 million and pushing the maturity date on a $925 million tranche out to March 2013.  We had one lender who declined to extend and thus still have a $26.25 million tranche that matures in October 2011.  Pricing on the $925 million tranche was increased to LIBOR +150 basis points, at our current ratings, while the $26.25 million tranche pricing remained LIBOR +47.5 basis points.  This amendment and extension enhances our longer-term liquidity profile and continues our strategy of conservatively managing our balance sheet and liquidity position during these uncertain times, as our debt to total capital ratio ended the quarter at approximately 21%."

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF), is a leading provider of title insurance, mortgage services, specialty insurance, claims management services and information services.  FNF is the nation's largest title insurance company through its title insurance underwriters - Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title, Lawyers Title, Ticor Title, Security Union Title and Alamo Title - that collectively issue more title insurance policies than any other title company in the United States.  FNF also provides flood insurance, personal lines insurance and home warranty insurance through its specialty insurance business.  FNF also is a leading provider of outsourced claims management services to large corporate and public sector entities through its minority-owned subsidiary, Sedgwick CMS.  FNF is also a leading information services company in the human resource, retail and transportation markets through another minority-owned subsidiary, Ceridian Corporation.  More information about FNF can be found at www.fnf.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, 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 economic performance 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 operating subsidiaries as a 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.