Inman

LandAmerica posts another quarter of record revenue

LandAmerica Financial Group’s operating revenue once again passed the billion-dollar mark, hitting $1.07 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005, an increase of $151.9 million over third-quarter -2004. Net income was $59.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2005.

Operating revenue for the company’s title operations segment for fourth-quarter 2005 was $1 billion, an increase of $142.1 million, or 16.4 percent over the fourth quarter of 2004.

The company had reported record consolidated operating revenue of over a billion dollars for the third quarter of 2005 as well.

Operating revenue in the Lender Services segment for fourth quarter 2005 decreased $1.2 million, or 3.1 percent, compared to fourth-quarter 2004. Before the impact of acquisitions completed since Sept. 30, 2004, operating revenue for the segment decreased $4.6 million for fourth-quarter 2005.

Direct orders opened were 267,400 for fourth-quarter 2005, compared with 263,800 for fourth-quarter 2004, an increase of 1.4 percent over fourth-quarter 2004.

Cash flows provided by operating activities were a record $422.5 million for the full-year 2005 period, compared with $256.6 million for 2004.

“I am pleased to report record operating revenue and record cash flow for LandAmerica in 2005, including back-to-back billion-dollar revenue quarters, a first in our company’s history,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Theodore L. Chandler Jr.

LandAmerica shares (NYSE:LFG) were trading at $68.10 on the New York Stock Exchange today just before noon, up 11 percent from yesterday’s closing price.

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