George P. Scanlon
Analyst · Barclays
Thank you, Bill. This quarter, again, highlights the strength of our Title business in an environment of steady, consistent order volumes. Opening closed orders were primarily refinance-driven and generally similar to the second quarter of this year and we generated another strong 14.4% pretax title margin. Additionally, we also saw a 7% increase in open resale orders versus the third quarter of 2011, continuing the improvement in purchase volume we have seen throughout 2012. Finally, we have also seen a continuing year-over-year decline in claim payments as our claims management initiatives drive lower costs and we work our way through the high claim years contributing to a significant improvement in company cash flow. Our company is well-positioned to take advantage of the emerging recovery in real estate. Title pretax earnings of $211 million grew by $73 million or 53% over the third quarter of 2011, and our title pretax margin of 14.4% improved by 220 basis points over the prior-year period. For the second consecutive quarter, we produced a 14.4% pretax title margin in a market that remains weighted toward refinance orders. Our commercial Title business continued to perform well despite a 7% decline in third quarter revenue versus the prior year. Open orders of 18,200 increased 2%, and closed orders of 12,000 improved by 3%. The revenue decline was driven by a 10% decline in commercial fee per file, which is solely a function of the size, type and mix of closed orders during the quarter. Overall, the Commercial business continues to perform very well for us and we expect another strong fourth quarter performance. Open order accounts were very strong during the quarter, growing 18% over the prior year and gaining momentum as the quarter ended and we entered the fourth quarter. Overall, open orders averaged more than 11,200 per day for the third quarter, with July averaging 11,400; August, 10,800; and September, 11,400. The month of October actually showed an increase to nearly 11,700 open orders per day, our strongest monthly open order performance of the year. Not surprisingly, the mix of third quarter business was weighted toward refinance orders as 67% of open orders and 63% of closed orders were refinance-related. As I mentioned earlier, we continue to see strength in the purchase market as we experienced a 7% increase in purchase order volumes opened in the third quarter versus the prior year, continuing the trend we have seen throughout this year. At ServiceLink, open orders increased 34% sequentially from the second quarter while closed orders declined by 3%. Harp orders constituted approximately 50% of total open orders at ServiceLink in the third quarter. A significant volume of Harp business has caused a backlog of major centralized lenders and we expect to see a significant increase in closed orders at ServiceLink in the fourth quarter as the backlog is worked through. We now have 2 consolidated operations in addition to the Title business. American Blue Ribbon produced operating revenue of $298 million, and adjusted EBITDA of more than $10 million. All 3 restaurants segments, Casual, Upscale Casual and Family Dining posted positive comparative sales figures for the third quarter. Of the 6 concepts, only 1, O'Charley's, trailed its competitive benchmarks. We are still in the early stages of the integration of the O'Charley's acquisition, and we have many specific plans in place to improve the performance of the O'Charley's concept. These include a revamped menu with a focus on everyday value and embarking on a test remodeling program in mid-November. We expect to make significant progress in improving the financial performance of the O'Charley's concept during 2013. We also reported a $48 million pretax gain related to tax attributes acquired in the O'Charley's acquisition. On an after-tax basis, this added $34 million or $0.15 per diluted share to FNF's third quarter earnings. Overall, ABRH produced pretax earnings of $43 million for the third quarter. Upon achieving majority ownership on August 15, we began consolidating Remy's financial results, so we are reporting about 6 weeks of operations this quarter and we'll report our first full quarter of financial results in the fourth quarter. For the partial quarter, Remy generated operating revenue of $143 million and adjusted EBITDA of nearly $20 million for an EBITDA margin of 13.6%. Remy continues to perform well against a challenging global macroeconomic backdrop and remains focused on cost savings initiatives during the difficult economic environment. We also reported a $79 million pretax gain on the consolidation of Remy, as accounting rules require that we mark our formally minority-owned investment to market. On an after-tax basis, this added $55 million or $0.24 per diluted share to FNF's third quarter earnings. Overall, Remy produced pretax earnings of $80 million for the third quarter. Additionally, we recognized $5.5 million in earnings from equity investments from Remy through the first half of the third quarter when we still owned a minority stake. Finally, our minority owned investment, Ceridian, generated third quarter revenue of $356 million, a 3% decline from the prior year quarter, but despite that revenue decline, EBITDA of $88 million actually increased 17%. The EBITDA margin was 25% for the quarter and our 33% share of Ceridian's quarterly loss was $2 million. Let me now turn the call over to Tony Park to review the financial highlights. Tony?