Mortgage Slowdown Weighs On FidelityNational

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - (10/22/04) -- Fidelity National Financial Inc.,the diversified financial services company and leading provider oftitle insurance, said third quarter earnings declined 30% to $193.8million, or $1.09 a share, due mostly to the fall-off in mortgagelending from last year's record heights. FNF, which has morphedinto a leading credit union and bank outsourcer, said despite ahalf dozen acquisitions over the last year, revenues were downabout 1% to $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the sameperiod last year. Revenues for its core title insurance businesswere down by $109 million for the period. But revenues for thecompany's financial institution software and services unit, whichthe company plans to take public, were up 42% to $328.5 million.Through the first three quarters of the year FNF reported a 15%drop in net income to $566.1 million, or $3.23 a share. Thirdquarter highlights include the acquisitions of InterCept, apayments processor; Covansys, a software development firm; Geotrac,a provider of flood determinations; and Kordoba, a Germany-basedsoftware outsourcer.