Shares of Santa Ana-based First American Corp. were up nearly 12% at close of trading Thursday, after the title insurer and business information company reported better than expected second-quarter earnings.
First American posted net income of $42 million in the second quarter, compared to a loss of $66 million a year earlier.
Analysts expected the company to earn about $37 million.
First American has a market value of about $2.4 billion.
Second-quarter profits were due to reduced costs, rather than a turnaround in First American’s business.
Total expenses dropped to $1.6 billion from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Salaries and other personnel costs fell by 17%.
Revenue fell 20% to $1.7 billion in the second quarter. The company saw a 17% drop in volume and a 25% drop in earnings for its core title business, to $1.1 billion.
First American also said it is postponing the split of its financial services and information solutions companies, expected in the third quarter, because of uncertainty in the real estate and mortgage credit markets.
An updated time frame wasn’t given for the split. First American said it would proceed once the markets become more stable.
