Investors title company announces first quarter 2014 financial results
Chapel hill, n.c.--(business wire)--investors title company (nasdaq:itic) today announced its results for the quarter ended march 31, 2014. the company reported net income of $986,438, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared with $3,376,730, or $1.62 per diluted share, for the prior year period. the company achieved record first quarter revenues totaling $28,454,074, an increase of 6.0% versus the prior year period, resulting primarily from increases in premium volumes and realized gains on investments. as the overall economy has continued to improve, higher levels of real estate purchase activity and higher home prices across many of our markets helped drive an increase in premiums during the period. rising interest rates however, led to a significant drop in refinance activity, which partially offset the increased purchase-related business. operating expenses increased 22.6% versus the prior year period, mainly due to increases in variable expenses such as the provision for claims and commissions. overall, the trend in new claim filings continued to improve. during the first quarter however, the occurrence of a few large claims related to older policy years contributed to the increase in the claims provision. positive legal developments in several claim matters and a significant recovery in the prior year period also contributed to an unfavorable comparison. commissions increased at a higher rate than premiums because there was a greater proportion of agent business than in the prior year period. other operating expenses, as a whole, were largely in line with the prior year quarter. chairman j. allen fine added, “we are pleased to see increases in the level of home prices as well as continued strength in home purchase activity. as expected, however, the drop in refinance activity had a significant impact on premium volumes for the quarter. although a few unusual claims matters led to an unfavorable comparison to the prior year, we remain encouraged by the general long-term trend of claims activity.” investors title company is engaged through its subsidiaries in the business of issuing and underwriting title insurance policies. the company also provides investment management services to individuals, companies, banks and trusts, as well as services in connection with tax-deferred exchanges of like-kind property. certain statements contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. such statements include, among others, any statements regarding expansion of the company’s market presence, enhancing competitive strengths or regarding our actuarial assumptions and the application of recent historical claims experience to future periods. these statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated and historical results. such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: the cyclical demand for title insurance due to changes in the residential and commercial real estate markets; the occurrence of fraud, defalcation or misconduct; variances between actual claims experience and underwriting and reserving assumptions, including the limited predictive power of historical claims experience; declines in the performance of the company’s investments; government regulation; and other considerations set forth under the caption “risk factors” in the company’s annual report on form 10-k for the year ended december 31, 2013, as filed with the securities and exchange commission, and in subsequent filings. march 31,
