Record Year, Quarter for First American Financial

First American Financial Corp., the Santa Ana parent of the third largest title insurance company in the nation, reported Monday that it reached record revenues and net earnings for 1985 and for its fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31.

First American, whose primary asset is the 97-year-old First American Title Insurance Co., posted a net income of $14 million for the year, a 4% increase over net income of $13.4 million for the previous year. Revenues rose 16% to $268.3 million from $232.2 million.

Net income for the fourth quarter more than doubled to $3.9 million from $1.6 million. Quarterly revenues jumped 40% to $77.5 million from $55.5 million.

“The title insurance industry follows very closely the real estate activity,” said Jack H. Derloshon, senior vice president and chief financial officer. “If real estate sales are at a high level, as they were last year, then title insurance companies do well.”

Derloshon said First American also was able to increase its market share through its network of more than 2,200 branches, subsidiaries, affiliates and agents in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.