EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
Irvine-based Fidelity National Financial Inc. said it is negotiating with the city of Jacksonville, Fla., to move the title insurer’s headquarters there (see story, page 1). Meanwhile, Fidelity said first-quarter earnings before taxes rose 46% to $236.3 million vs. a year ago, on a 35% rise in revenue to $1.4 billion. The title insurer also said it bought Mutual of Omaha’s flood insurance processing unit for an undisclosed amount … California State University, Fullerton revised down its Orange County job forecast. OC now is expected to add 11,200 jobs, or 0.8% growth, vs. the 14,400 jobs, or 1% gain previously forecast. Economists cited job losses in the past few months, the drop in consumer confidence and decline in leading economic indicators as factors in the revision
TECHNOLOGY
Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. said its operating profit in the quarter ended March 28 rose nearly three-fold to $57 million vs. a year earlier, on a 19% gain in sales to $705.8 million … Irvine-based Exult Inc. said it won a 10-year, $500 million contract to provide human resource software and services to Canada’s Bank of Montreal. Exult shares fell nearly 10% to 7.66 late last week after it reported a first-quarter operating profit of $3.1 million, vs. a loss of $7.3 million a year ago, on a 20% gain in sales to $114.1 million. Exult said its second-quarter sales would be in line to slightly higher than the first quarter … Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. lifted the company’s salary ceiling of $110,500 as the chipmaker revamps its pay system to put less emphasis on stock options and more on wages … Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp. said it will pay $39.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought after the company’s shares fell 48% in one day in 2001. Meanwhile, Emulex said its operating loss in the quarter ended March 30 narrowed to $2.3 million, vs. a loss of $17 million a year earlier. Sales in the period rose 14% to $79.6 million … Costa Mesa-based FileNet Corp. said its first-quarter operating profit fell 5% to $863,000, vs. a year earlier, on a 1% gain in sales to $87 million … Irvine-based Quest Software Inc. said its first-quarter operating profit nearly tripled to $3 million vs. a year earlier, on a 21% rise in sales to $72 million … Newport Beach-based software and services provider TriZetto Group Inc. said its first-quarter operating loss narrowed to $2.1 million, vs. a loss of $6 million a year ago. TriZetto said its revenue rose 16% to $69 million in the quarter … Irvine-based Newport Corp. said it paid $3.5 million for a 20% stake in Wilmington, Mass., chip equipment maker Nexx Systems LLC … Lake Success, N.Y.-based Park Electrochemical Corp. said it’s moving its laminations operation and an undisclosed number of workers to a plant in Fullerton.
HEALTHCARE
In healthcare earnings news: Irvine-based Sicor Inc. said its first-quarter operating profit grew 19% to $43.7 million vs. a year ago, on a 17% increase in sales to $128.4 million; Lake Forest-based Apria Healthcare Group Inc. said its first-quarter operating profit rose 18% to 48.4 million vs. a year earlier, on an 11% increase in revenue to $335 million; Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said its first-quarter operating profit fell 31% to $21.2 million compared to a year ago, on a 31% increase in sales to $212.5 million; San Clemente-based Biolase Technology Inc. said its first-quarter operating profit rose five-fold to $604,000 compared to a year ago, on a 66% jump in sales to $8.7 million; and Hycor Biomedical Inc. said its first-quarter operating profit rose 6% to $294,000 vs. a year earlier, on a 7% rise in sales to $4.9 million.
REAL ESTATE
Santa Ana-based title insurer First American Corp. said its first-quarter earnings before taxes jumped 85% to $163.5 million vs. a year ago, on a 29% increase in revenue to $1.3 billion. The company also said it is setting up a real estate information unit with Littleton, Colo.-based Real Trends Inc., called the First American Residential Real Estate Group … Newport Beach-based Health Care Property Investors Inc. said its operating income for the quarter ended March 31 rose 9% to $36.3 million vs. a year earlier, on a 15% gain in revenue to $92.1 million … Fullerton residents debated a 760-home development set for 510 acres in West Coyote Hills. The developer, Pacific Coast Homes, is a unit of Chevron Land and Development Co. The project is set to go before the city planning commission.
FINANCE
Costa Mesa-based Experian Information Systems Inc., a unit of the Britain’s GUS PLC, bought the credit operations of the Credit Bureau of El Paso, Texas, and the Credit Bureaus of Lawton, Okla.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Irvine-based Meade Instruments Corp. said its founder, chairman and chief executive, John C. Diebel, was stepping down May 31. Meanwhile, Meade said its operating loss in the quarter ended Feb. 28 narrowed 29% to $1.9 million, vs. a year earlier, on a 39% rise in sales to $22.2 million, aided largely by its buy of Simmons Outdoor Corp.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Orange County’s housing market in March, with the median price of a home rising 18.7% to $394,000, but the number of homes sold falling 9.8% to 4,359, according to DataQuick Information Systems Inc.
