First American Swings to Profit,Updates Spinoff

Santa Ana-based title insurer and data services company First American Corp. reported a profit and sales in line with Wall Street estimates Thursday and said it hopes to complete a long-planned spinoff by June 1.

First American reported a profit of $38 million compared to a loss of $67 million a year earlier.

The profit, which includes restructuring and other charges, matched what analysts were looking for on average.

Without charges, First American’s profit was $63 million.

Revenue came in at $1.5 billion, up 11% from a year earlier and topping the $1.47 billion analysts were looking for.

First American writes title insurance policies that protect home and other real estate owners from competing claims of ownership.

The company also provides real estate, consumer credit, motor vehicle and other data to businesses and employers screening potential hires.

For more than two years, First American has planned to separate its two businesses by spinning off its dominate title insurance unit.

The housing downturn delayed the move.

First American now says it hopes to complete the spinoff by June 1 as it awaits regulatory OKs. The company had been targeting April as a potential spinoff date.

The spinoff stands to be the biggest in the county in years.

The new company is expected to have a market value of about $2.1 billion and annual revenue of more than $4 billion.

The remaining data services business is set to have $2.1 billion in yearly revenue and be valued at about $1.5 billion.

Both are set to be based at First American's Santa Ana headquarters.