Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2012 EPS of $1.03 and Pre-Tax Title Margin of 14.4%; Book Value per Share Grows to $20.50

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF), a leading provider of title insurance, mortgage services and other diversified services, today reported operating results for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2012.

• Pre-tax title margin of 14.4% versus 12.2% in the third quarter of 2011, a 220 basis point, or 18%, increase over the prior year 
• Open orders of 706,000 for the third quarter, an increase of 110,000, or 18%, over the third quarter of 2011; open orders per day of 11,200 for the third quarter versus 9,300 open orders per day for the third quarter of 2011; open orders of nearly 11,700 per day in October 2012, the strongest monthly performance of 2012
• Commercial revenue of $91.8 million, a 7% decline versus the third quarter of 2011, driven by a 10% decline in fee per file offsetting a 3% increase in closed orders
• Remy operating results are consolidated beginning August 15, 2012; fourth quarter 2012 will mark the first full quarter of financial results from Remy
• Recognized a $78.9 million pre-tax gain on the consolidation of Remy, and a $48.1 million pre-tax bargain purchase gain related to tax attributes acquired in the O'Charley's acquisition; total net effect was an $88.9 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, contribution to third quarter earnings
• Acquired control of J. Alexander's Corporation on September 25, 2012; closed acquisition on October 29, 2012
• Income tax rate declined to 30% due to the consolidations of American Blue Ribbon and Remy and the impact of losses at Ceridian

Consolidated ($ in millions except per share amounts)

The following are summary financial and operational results for the operating segments of FNF for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2012 and 2011:

Fidelity National Title Group ("FNT") ($ in millions)

- 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.

Restaurant Group ($ in millions)

* Covers period from May 11, 2012 – September 30, 2012

** Covers period from August 15, 2012 – September 30, 2012

"This quarter again highlights the strength of our title business in an environment of steady, consistent order volumes," said Chief Executive Officer George P. Scanlon.  "Open and closed orders were primarily refinance driven and generally similar to the second quarter of this year, and we generated another strong 14.4% pre-tax title margin.  Additionally, we also saw a 7% increase in open resale orders versus the third quarter of 2011, continuing the improvement in purchase volume we have seen throughout 2012.  We are excited about our future earnings potential as we begin to see more meaningful and sustained improvement in the residential purchase market.

"We are also excited to begin to consolidate our Remy operations and report them as a distinct segment.  For the partial quarter, we reported operating revenue of approximately $143 million, adjusted EBITDA of $19.5 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.6%.  We also reported our first full quarter of operations for American Blue Ribbon in the third quarter.  Operating revenue was $298 million and adjusted EBITDA was $10.2 million.  We continue to believe that the increased transparency of these separate segment disclosures for both Remy and American Blue Ribbon will allow investors to more easily value these operations."

"On September 25, 2012, we acquired control of J. Alexander's and closed the acquisition on October 29, 2012," said Chairman William P. Foley, II.  "We believe that J. Alexander's will be a great addition to our upscale casual dining lineup and look forward to its revenue and earnings contribution to our restaurant group.  Additionally, in August we acquired an additional 1.5 million shares of Remy, giving us a 51%, majority ownership stake in the company.  We are confident that holding majority ownership positions in both Remy and American Blue Ribbon will allow us to better create future significant value for our shareholders from both of these investments."

Conference Call
FNF will host a call with investors and analysts to discuss third quarter 2012 results on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, 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 November 6, 2012, through November 13, 2012, by dialing 800-475-6701 (USA) or 320-365-3844 (International).  The access code will be 266992.

About FNF
Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), is a leading provider of title insurance, mortgage services and other diversified services.  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 owns a 55% stake in American Blue Ribbon Holdings, LLC, a restaurant owner and operator of the O'Charley's, Ninety Nine Restaurant, Max & Erma's, Village Inn, Bakers Square and Stoney River Legendary Steaks concepts.  In addition, FNF also owns a 51% stake in Remy International, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer, remanufacturer, marketer and distributor of aftermarket and original equipment electrical components for automobiles, light trucks, heavy-duty trucks and other vehicles.  FNF also owns a minority interest in Ceridian Corporation, a leading provider of global human capital management and payment solutions.  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) and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA).

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.