The First American Corporation Reports Operating Results For the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2001

February 14, 2002

SANTA ANA, Calif., /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF ) has announced operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2001.

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2001 was $52.3 million, or 68 cents per diluted share. This represents a 148 percent increase when compared with 2000 fourth quarter net income of $21.1 million, or 31 cents per diluted share. Fourth-quarter 2000 results exclude a pretax, nonrecurring net benefit of $22.1 million resulting from modifications to the company's pension plan and realized pretax investment losses of $4.3 million. These items totaled a net after-tax benefit of $10.7 million, or 16 cents per diluted share. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2001 were a record setting $1.07 billion, a 41 percent increase when compared with revenues of $761.9 million for the same period last year.

The company's full-year 2001 operating earnings were $173.0 million, or $2.35 per diluted share, which compares with the full-year 2000 results of $71.5 million, or $1.08 per diluted share. These operating results exclude any one-time items as previously announced in the respective quarters. Revenues for the full year 2001 totaled a record breaking $3.75 billion, an increase of 28 percent when compared with revenues of $2.93 billion in the prior year.

"2001 was a great year," stated Parker S. Kennedy, president of The First American Corporation. "Mortgage originations reached an all-time high, fueled in part by interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. This transaction volume contributed to impressive financial results in our title insurance and real estate information and services segments. Also during the year we continued to roll out our industry leading FAST suite of technology solutions, which will result in increased labor efficiencies and margin improvement. Acquisitions and joint ventures in our real estate-related businesses served to strengthen market share, expand geographic reach and build a larger platform of data and information to facilitate the real estate transaction process.

"We remain focused and committed to our strategy of diversification via our consumer information and services segment," Kennedy continued. "Our recent key acquisitions of Credit Management Solutions, Inc., Substance Abuse Management, Inc. and American Driving Records strengthened our position as a leading provider of credit data and technology for vehicle purchasing and financing activities and as a significant player in the pre-employment screening process.

"Our outlook for 2002 and the years ahead is to remain focused on our strategies of diversification and overall margin improvement. This will provide a broad platform for future growth and will differentiate First American as a diversified provider of business information. Future margin improvement will be delivered by the successful implementation of our technology initiatives that will lower operating costs, enhance the service we provide our customers and allow for the creation of new information products derived from First American's rich and extensive databases."

Source:  The First American Corporation


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