Stewart Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results

HOUSTON, Oct. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE: STC) today reported net income attributable to Stewart for the third quarter 2020 of $55.9 million ($2.21 per diluted share), compared to net income attributable to Stewart of $66.1 million ($2.78 per diluted share) for the third quarter 2019. On an adjusted basis, Stewart's third quarter 2020 net income of $55.9 million ($2.21 per diluted share) increased 84 percent from $30.4 million in the third quarter 2019. Third quarter 2020 pretax income before noncontrolling interests was $76.3 million compared to pretax income before noncontrolling interests of $91.1 million for the third quarter 2019.

Third quarter 2019 results included pretax items of:

• $46.9 million of net realized and unrealized gains, primarily composed of a $50 million gain recorded in the ancillary services and corporate segment related to the merger termination fee paid by Fidelity National Financial (FNF), and a $2.7 million impairment charge on an equity method investment recorded in the title segment, and
• $1.0 million of third-party advisory expenses related to the terminated FNF merger transaction recorded in other operating expenses within the ancillary services and corporate segment.

"In the third quarter, Stewart continued to benefit from a robust real estate transaction environment, as low interest rates continued to impact refinancing activity while purchase orders strengthened," commented Fred Eppinger, chief executive officer. "Together, they helped both our direct and agency operations outperform 2019 revenue levels. In addition, Stewart's more disciplined and focused operating approach allowed for enhanced margins. Lastly, the company closed two acquisitions in the quarter, with their benefits seen immediately in our core title results. As always, I would like to thank our employees for the work they are doing, continuing to tirelessly work under challenging conditions while insuring the safety of our customers and co-workers."

Selected Financial Information
Summary results of operations are as follows (dollars in millions, except per share amounts):

Title Segment
Summary results of the title segment are as follows (dollars in millions, except pretax margin):

Title segment pretax income grew $32.9 million, or 66 percent, while pretax margin also improved 460 basis points to 14.5 percent in the third quarter 2020 compared to the prior year quarter. Title operating revenues increased $63.5 million, or 13 percent, resulting from increases in direct title revenues of $35.0 million, or 14 percent, and gross independent agency revenues of $28.5 million, or 11 percent. The effect of changes in the fair value of equity securities investments was minimal during the third quarters of 2020 and 2019; however, during the third quarter 2019, the segment recorded a $2.7 million impairment charge on an equity method investment. Excluding the impairment charge, pretax income for the third quarter 2019 would have been $52.3 million (10.4 percent margin).

Consistent with the increased title revenues in the third quarter 2020, the segment's overall operating expenses increased $33.6 million, or 7 percent, as agency retention expenses and combined title employee costs and other operating expenses increased 11 percent and 3 percent, respectively, from the third quarter 2019. Our average independent agency remittance rate for the third quarter 2020 improved to 18.2 percent compared to 17.8 percent in the prior year quarter; while combined title employee costs and other operating expenses, as a percentage of title revenues, was 39.5 percent in the third quarter 2020 compared to 43.4 percent in the prior year quarter. Title loss expense increased in the third quarter 2020 primarily due to increased title revenues, higher domestic loss provisioning rates due to the current economic environment, and unfavorable loss development in our Canadian business. As a percentage of title revenues, the title loss expense in the third quarter 2020 was 5.1 percent compared to 4.2 percent from the prior year quarter.

Direct title revenues information is presented below (dollars in millions):

Direct title revenues in the third quarter 2020 increased from the prior year quarter as a result of improved domestic non-commercial revenues, primarily driven by increased purchase and refinancing residential orders from both existing and newly acquired title offices. This increase was partially offset by decreased commercial revenues resulting from reduced transaction sizes and volumes. Domestic commercial fee per file in the third quarter 2020 was approximately $9,700, which was 23 percent lower than the third quarter 2019; while domestic residential fee per file was approximately $1,900, or 11 percent lower than the third quarter 2019, primarily due to a higher mix of refinancing compared to purchase transactions.

Ancillary Services and Corporate Segment
Summary results of the ancillary services and corporate segment are as follows (dollars in millions):

The segment's results for the third quarter 2019 included a $50.0 million realized gain related to the FNF merger termination fee and $1.0 million of merger expenses. Excluding net realized gains and merger expenses, the segment's pretax results for the third quarter 2020 improved $1.1 million, or 15 percent, compared to the prior year quarter. Third quarter segment operating revenues improved, primarily driven by $24.2 million of revenues generated by U.S. Appraisals, which were partially offset by a $4.8 million decline in search and valuation services' revenues due to significantly lower customer orders. The segment's results for the third quarter 2020 and 2019 included approximately $6.3 million and $7.3 million, respectively, of net expenses attributable to parent company and corporate operations, with the higher expenses in the third quarter 2019 being primarily driven by the FNF merger expenses mentioned above.  

Expenses
For the third quarter 2020, total employee costs and other operating expenses related to new acquisitions aggregated to $6.1 million and $21.7 million, respectively. Excluding these acquisitions, total employee costs increased $5.7 million, or 4 percent, in the third quarter 2020 compared to the third quarter 2019, primarily due to higher incentive compensation on improved overall operating results. As a percentage of total operating revenues, consolidated employee costs for the third quarter 2020 improved to 26.3 percent from 28.3 percent in the third quarter 2019.

Excluding acquisitions, other operating expenses decreased $11.0 million, or 13 percent, in the third quarter 2020 compared to the third quarter 2019. This decline primarily resulted from lower outside title search expenses on lower revenues from commercial services and search and valuation services, and reduced spending related to marketing, travel, rent and other occupancy, and third-party consulting. As a percentage of total operating revenues, consolidated other operating expenses for the third quarter 2020 improved to 16.7 percent compared to 17.3 percent in the third quarter 2019.

Other
Net cash provided by operations in the third quarter 2020 was $90.8 million compared to net cash provided by operations of $115.7 million in the prior year quarter. The lower cash from operations in the third quarter 2020 was primarily due to the $50.0 million FNF merger termination fee received in the third quarter 2019, partially offset by a higher third quarter 2020 income from business operations.

Third quarter Earnings Call
Stewart will hold a conference call to discuss the third quarter 2020 earnings at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, October 22, 2020. To participate, dial (800) 894-5910 (USA) and (785) 424-1052 (International) - access code STCQ320. Additionally, participants can listen to the conference call through Stewart's Investor Relations website at http://www.stewart.com/investor-relations/earnings-call.html. The conference call replay will be available from 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 22, 2020 until midnight on October 29, 2020, by dialing (800) 938-2796 (USA) or (402) 220-9030 (International) - the access code is also STCQ320.

About Stewart
Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) is a global real estate services company, offering products and services through our direct operations, network of Stewart Trusted Providers™ and family of companies. From residential and commercial title insurance and closing and settlement services to specialized offerings for the mortgage industry, we offer the comprehensive service, deep expertise and solutions our customers need for any real estate transaction. At Stewart, we believe in building strong relationships – and these partnerships are the cornerstone of every closing, every transaction and every deal. Stewart. Real partners. Real possibilities.™ More information is available at the Company's website at stewart.com, or you can subscribe to the Stewart blog at blog.stewart.com, or follow Stewart on Twitter^® @stewarttitleco.

Forward-looking statements. Certain statements in this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to future, not past, events and often address our expected future business and financial performance.  These statements often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "will," "foresee" or other similar words. Forward-looking statements by their nature are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to be materially different than those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the volatility of economic conditions, including the timing and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; adverse changes in the level of real estate activity; changes in mortgage interest rates, existing and new home sales, and availability of mortgage financing; our ability to respond to and implement technology changes, including the completion of the implementation of our enterprise systems; the impact of unanticipated title losses or the need to strengthen our policy loss reserves; any effect of title losses on our cash flows and financial condition; the ability to attract and retain highly productive sales associates; the impact of vetting our agency operations for quality and profitability; independent agency remittance rates; changes to the participants in the secondary mortgage market and the rate of refinancing that affects the demand for title insurance products; regulatory non-compliance, fraud or defalcations by our title insurance agencies or employees; our ability to timely and cost-effectively respond to significant industry changes and introduce new products and services; the outcome of pending litigation; the impact of changes in governmental and insurance regulations, including any future reductions in the pricing of title insurance products and services; our dependence on our operating subsidiaries as a source of cash flow; our ability to access the equity and debt financing markets when and if needed; our ability to grow our international operations; seasonality and weather; and our ability to respond to the actions of our competitors. These risks and uncertainties, as well as others, are discussed in more detail in our documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as supplemented by any risk factors contained in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements included in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by such cautionary statements. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update, amend or clarify any forward-looking statements contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date hereof, except as may be required by applicable law.

Appendix A
Non-GAAP Adjustments

Management uses a variety of financial and operational measurements other than its financial statements prepared in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to analyze its performance. These include: (1) adjusted revenues, which are reported revenues adjusted for any net realized and unrealized gains and losses and (2) net income after earnings from noncontrolling interests and adjusted for net realized and unrealized gains and losses and other non-operating costs such as merger expenses, cost initiative severance expenses, office closure costs and litigation expenses (adjusted net income). Adjusted diluted earnings per share (adjusted diluted EPS) is calculated using adjusted net income divided by the diluted average weighted outstanding shares. Management views these measures as important performance measures of core profitability for its operations and as key components of its internal financial reporting. Management believes investors benefit from having access to the same financial measures that management uses.

The following tables reconcile the non-GAAP financial measurements used by management to the most directly comparable GAAP measures for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (dollars in millions, except share and per share amounts).

SOURCE Stewart Information Services Corporation