HOUSTON, Oct. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE: STC) today reported net income attributable to Stewart of $17.6 million ($0.74 per diluted share) for the third quarter 2018, compared to net income attributable to Stewart of $10.9 million ($0.46 per diluted share) for the third quarter 2017. Pretax income before noncontrolling interests for the third quarter 2018 was $24.8 million compared to a pretax income before noncontrolling interests of $18.6 million for the third quarter 2017.

Third quarter 2018 results included $6.8 million of third-party advisory expenses in the ancillary services and corporate segment relating to the FNF merger transaction and $3.4 million of net unrealized gains relating to changes in fair value of equity investments. Third quarter 2017 results included $1.4 million of acquisition integration costs in the title segment.

"Stewart delivered solid third quarter results as increased fee-per-file levels in both commercial and residential operations offset lower order counts," stated Matthew W. Morris, chief executive officer. "Even though order counts were down year-over-year as interest rates rose through the quarter, the growing mix of purchase transactions in our residential business and larger transaction sizes in our commercial business helped keep title revenues flat with the third quarter 2017. Our senior management team remains focused on the merger process as we continue to work with the FTC and the appropriate state regulators, and, as our results illustrate, all associates remain focused on delivering solid operating results."

Fidelity National Financial (FNF) Update
Since announcing our agreement and plan of merger with FNF in March 2018, we initiated the regulatory approval process, which included the submission of our Hart-Scott-Rodino Act filings to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Form A filings to the states of Texas and New York, the domiciles of Stewart's two main underwriters. Furthermore, the merger was approved by a majority of our stockholders during a special meeting held on September 5, 2018. We continue to work cooperatively with FNF, the FTC and state regulators in the ongoing review process, responding to data and information requests as they arise. Of note, in August, the Canadian Competition Bureau notified FNF that it had no opposition to the completion of the merger.

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 operating revenues in the third quarter 2018 were comparable to the prior year quarter, as a result of higher commercial and independent agency revenues, which were partially offset by lower non-commercial direct title revenues. Pretax income improved $11.4 million in the third quarter 2018 compared to the third quarter 2017, primarily as a result of lower overall title operating expenses and higher investment income and other net gains. Included in the segment's results were $2.2 million of net unrealized gains relating to fair value changes of equity securities investments, which were being recorded to other comprehensive income prior to the adoption of a new accounting standard in 2018.

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

Included in the non-commercial domestic revenues were revenues from purchase transactions, which were roughly flat year-over-year, and centralized title operations (processing primarily refinancing and default title orders), which were down $5.7 million in the third quarter 2018 compared to the third quarter 2017. Total commercial revenues improved $7.3 million, or 16 percent, from the prior year quarter due to our continued focus on delivering quality service and underwriting to our domestic and international commercial customers. Total international title revenues in the third quarter 2018 decreased $4.2 million, or 12 percent, compared to the prior year quarter, primarily as a result of lower volumes from our Canada operations. Third quarter 2018 commercial fee per file increased 43% to approximately $8,400 due to increased transaction sizes, while domestic residential fee per file increased 10% to approximately $2,200 as a result of the mix shift to more purchase transactions.

Both gross and net revenues from independent agency operations in the third quarter 2018 increased 2 percent, compared to the third quarter 2017, as we maintained our focus on enhancing customer service and technology connectivity. The independent agency remittance rate in the third quarter 2018 remained comparable to the prior year quarter.

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

Third quarter 2018 segment revenues increased $1.5 million compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to a $1.2 million net unrealized gain resulting from a fair value change of an equity investment with previously no readily determinable fair value. The segment's third quarter 2018 pretax results declined compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to the $6.8 million of third-party advisory expenses incurred in the third quarter 2018 relating to the FNF merger transaction. Additionally, the segment's results for the third quarter 2018 and 2017 included approximately $5.8 million and $6.1 million, respectively, of net expenses attributable to parent company and corporate operations.

Expenses
Employee costs for the third quarter 2018 were $138.3 million, which was 1 percent lower compared to $140.1 million in the prior year quarter. Average employee counts decreased approximately 8 percent in the third quarter 2018 compared to the third quarter 2017, primarily related to volume declines in our title and ancillary services operations. The reduced employee counts resulted in the 8 percent decrease in salaries and other employee benefits, which was partially offset by increased commissions on higher commercial title revenues and higher incentive compensation. As a percentage of total operating revenues, employee costs for the third quarter 2018 improved 40 basis points to 27.7 percent compared to the prior year quarter.

Other operating expenses for the third quarter 2018 increased 3 percent to $90.8 million from $88.5 million in the third quarter 2017. The increase was primarily due to the previously mentioned higher third-party advisory expenses related to the FNF merger transaction, partially offset by lower cost of services in our centralized title operations and reduced costs related to third party outsourcing. As a percentage of total operating revenues, other operating expenses for the third quarter 2018 were 18.2 percent compared to 17.8 percent in the prior year quarter. Excluding the charges related to the FNF merger transaction and the acquisition integration during the third quarters 2018 and 2017, respectively, the other operating expenses ratio in the third quarter 2018 would have been 16.8 percent, 70 basis points lower compared to the prior year quarter.

Title loss expense for the third quarter 2018 decreased 15 percent to $21.5 million, compared to $25.4 million in the third quarter 2017, primarily as a result of better claims experience. Additionally, title losses were 4.4 percent of title revenues in the third quarter 2018 compared to 5.2 percent in the prior year quarter. We expect our title losses to range between 4.0 to 4.5 percent of title revenues for the year 2018.

Other
Net cash provided by operations in the third quarter 2018 increased to $36.4 million, compared to net cash provided of $31.5 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to the higher net income generated in the third quarter 2018.

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 challenging economic conditions; 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; the continued realization of expense savings from our cost management program; our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses; 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, 2017, and if applicable, 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
Adjusted revenues and adjusted EBITDA
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 investment and other gains and losses and (2) net income after earnings from noncontrolling interests and before interest expense, income tax expense, and depreciation and amortization and adjusted for net investment and other gains and losses and other non-operating costs such as strategic alternatives (FNF merger) expenses and other third-party advisory costs (adjusted EBITDA). 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 our most directly comparable GAAP measures for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 (dollars in millions).

CONTACT: Nat Otis, SVP - Finance and Director of Investor Relations (713) 625-8360