Stewart Reports First Quarter 2022 Results

• Total revenues of $852.9 million ($815.0 million on an adjusted basis) compared to $688.6 million ($685.3 million on an adjusted basis) in the prior year quarter
• Net income of $57.9 million ($55.8 million on an adjusted basis) compared to $54.2 million ($51.7 million on an adjusted basis) in the prior year quarter
• Diluted EPS of $2.11 ($2.03 on an adjusted basis) compared to prior year quarter diluted EPS of $2.01 ($1.92 on an adjusted basis)

HOUSTON, April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE: STC) today reported net income attributable to Stewart for the first quarter 2022 of $57.9 million ($2.11 per diluted share), compared to net income attributable to Stewart of $54.2 million ($2.01 per diluted share) for the first quarter 2021. On an adjusted basis, Stewart's first quarter 2022 net income was $55.8 million ($2.03 per diluted share), an improvement of $4.1 million, or 8 percent, from the first quarter 2021. First quarter 2022 pretax income before noncontrolling interests was $79.6 million ($76.9 million on adjusted basis) compared to pretax income before noncontrolling interests of $74.0 million for the first quarter 2021.

First quarter 2022 results included $4.1 million of pretax net realized and unrealized gains, which included $2.7 million of net unrealized gains on fair value changes of equity securities investments. First quarter 2021 results included $3.3 million of pretax net realized and unrealized gains, primarily related to net unrealized gains on fair value changes of equity securities investments.

"I am pleased with the results we delivered in the first quarter 2022 in a rising interest rate environment," commented Fred Eppinger, chief executive officer. "Stewart's results this quarter demonstrate the significant structural progress we have made in improving our performance and making us a resilient company that can perform throughout the cycle. We remain optimistic on both the operating structure we continue to build as well as the long-term opportunity the market offers us given strong underlying demographic trends."

Selected Financial Information
Summary results of operations are as follows (dollars in millions, except per share amounts, and amounts may not foot as presented due to rounding):

Effective this quarter, we revised the presentation of our reportable segments to reflect three segments: Title, Real Estate Solutions, and Corporate and Other. This segment presentation allows us to report distinct financial information relating to our real estate solutions operations (formerly, ancillary services operations) which have increased as a result of strategic acquisitions. Prior to 2022, the real estate solutions operations were combined in one segment with our corporate operations, which consist of expenses of the parent holding company and other centralized administrative services departments. Under the revised segment presentation, the composition of each of the title and real estate solutions segments is substantially unchanged, while the corporate and other segment primarily includes corporate operations. Refer to Appendix B for the restated segment results for all quarters of 2021 using our new presentation.

Title Segment
Summary results of the title segment are as follows (dollars in millions, except pretax margin):

Title segment's pretax income in the first quarter 2022 increased by $5.7 million compared to the first quarter 2021, while pretax margin was 11.4 percent in the first quarter 2022 compared to 12.2 percent in the prior year quarter. Title operating revenues in the first quarter 2022 improved $96.5 million, or 15 percent, as a result of revenue increases in direct title operations of $38.3 million, or 14 percent, and agency operations of $58.2 million, or 17 percent. Overall segment operating expenses in the first quarter 2022 increased $91.1 million, or 16 percent, primarily driven by 17 percent increases in both agency retention expenses and combined title employee costs and other operating expenses, compared to the prior year quarter. Average independent agency remittance rate in the first quarter 2022 was 18.1 percent, compared to 17.9 percent in the prior year quarter. As a percentage of title revenues, combined title employee costs and other operating expenses was 38.8 percent in the first quarter 2022 compared to 38.1 percent in the first quarter 2021.

Title loss expense in the first quarter 2022 was $29.2 million, which was slightly higher than $28.8 million in the first quarter 2021, primarily due to higher title revenues which was partially offset by favorable claims experience. As a percentage of title revenues, the title loss expense in the first quarter 2022 was 4.0 percent compared to 4.6 percent in the prior year quarter.

The segment's net realized and unrealized gains in the first quarter 2022 primarily included $2.7 million of net unrealized gains on fair value changes of equity securities investments, while net realized and unrealized gains in the first quarter 2021 were also primarily related to net unrealized gains on fair value changes of equity securities investments. Investment income in the first quarter 2022 was slightly lower compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to the higher mix of lower interest rate investments in the first quarter 2022.  

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

Total non-commercial revenues increased $6.9 million, or 3 percent, while total commercial revenues increased $31.4 million, or 90 percent, in the first quarter 2022 compared to the prior year quarter. Non-commercial revenues increased primarily due to improved residential purchase transactions and scale, partially offset by lower refinancing transactions in the first quarter 2022. Domestic commercial revenues increased $27.2 million, or 93 percent, in the first quarter 2022, primarily due to improved commercial transaction size and volume compared to the prior year quarter. Domestic commercial and residential fees per file in the first quarter 2022 were approximately $12,700 and $2,600, respectively, which were 47 percent and 37 percent, respectively, higher compared to the first quarter 2021. Total international revenues in the first quarter 2022 improved by $6.9 million, or 20 percent, primarily as a result of increased transaction volumes in our Canadian operations compared to the prior year quarter.

Real Estate Solutions Segment
Summary results of the real estate solutions segment are as follows (dollars in millions):

The segment's pretax income improved to $6.8 million in the first quarter 2022 compared to $2.7 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to higher operating revenues resulting from recent acquisitions. Total segment operating expenses increased $29.3 million, or 55 percent, primarily due to acquisitions and higher purchased intangible amortization expenses in the first quarter 2022 compared to the prior year quarter. Total intangible amortization expenses in the first quarters 2022 and 2021 were $6.4 million and $1.7 million, respectively.

Corporate and Other Segment
Summary results of the corporate and other segment are as follows (dollars in millions):

Segment operating revenues in the first quarter 2022 were related to a recently acquired real estate brokerage company, which was subsequently sold in the second quarter 2022. Net expenses attributable to corporate operations in the first quarter 2022 increased to $8.9 million compared to $5.8 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to increased interest expense resulting from our recently issued debt. Excluding the impact of the recently sold real estate brokerage company, the segment's pretax loss this quarter would have been $8.6 million.

Expenses
Consolidated employee costs in the first quarter 2022 increased $35.6 million, or 21 percent, compared to the first quarter 2021, primarily due to increased salaries and employee benefits, resulting from a 23 percent higher average employee count influenced by acquisitions. As a percentage of total operating revenues, consolidated employee costs for the first quarter 2022 improved to 24.3 percent compared to 24.9 percent in the prior year quarter.

Total other operating expenses in the first quarter 2022 increased $64.3 million, or 51 percent, compared to the prior year quarter. This increase was primarily driven by higher service expenses tied to increased revenues from real estate solutions operations, and increased outside title search and premium tax expenses on higher title revenues. As a percentage of total operating revenues, consolidated other operating expenses for the first quarter 2022 increased to 22.5 percent compared to 18.4 percent in the first quarter 2021, primarily due to the increased size of our real estate solutions and other real estate services operations which typically have higher other operating expenses.  

Other
Net cash provided by operations in the first quarter 2022 was $34.9 million, compared to net cash provided by operations of $47.4 million in the first quarter 2021, primarily due to higher payment of operating liabilities outstanding at the prior year-end, partially offset by a higher net income in the first quarter 2022.  

First Quarter Earnings Call
Stewart will hold a conference call to discuss the first quarter 2022 earnings at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 28, 2022. To participate, dial (888) 632-3382 (USA) or (203) 518-9544 (International) - access code STCQ122. Additionally, participants can listen to the conference call through Stewart's Investor Relations website at https://investors.stewart.com/news-and-events/events/default.aspx. The conference call replay will be available from 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on April 28, 2022 until midnight on May 5, 2022, by dialing (888) 562-0902 or (402) 220-7344 (International) - the access code is also STCQ122.

About Stewart
Stewart (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. More information can be found at https://www.stewart.com, subscribe to the Stewart blog at https://blog.stewart.com or follow Stewart on Twitter® @stewarttitleco.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements. Certain statements in this earnings release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. 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 "may," "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 volatility of economic conditions, including the duration and ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; 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; 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, 2021, and if applicable, as supplemented by any risk factors contained in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed subsequently. All forward-looking statements included in this earnings 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 earnings release to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date hereof, except as may be required by applicable law.

ST-IR

Appendix A
Non-GAAP Adjustments

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 the recently sold real estate brokerage company and any net realized and unrealized gains and losses, and (2) adjusted pretax income and adjusted net income, which are reported pretax income and reported net income after earnings from noncontrolling interests, respectively, adjusted for the recently sold real estate brokerage company, net realized and unrealized gains and losses and non-recurring expenses. Adjusted diluted earnings per share (adjusted diluted EPS) is calculated using adjusted net income divided by the diluted average weighted outstanding shares. 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.

Below is a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measurements used by management to the most directly comparable GAAP measures for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 (dollars in millions, except share and per share amounts, and amounts may not foot as presented due to rounding).

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SOURCE Stewart Information Services Corporation