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Piper Jaffray analyst cuts First American profit estimates

By Associated Press
April 30, 2008 | Comments (0)

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A Piper Jaffray analyst cut his profit estimates for First American Corp., saying the housing market will probably hamstring the title insurer through next year.

Piper Jaffray analyst Robert P. Napoli now expects First American to earn $130.2 million this year, down from his previous estimate of $171.7 million. Next year, he expects First American to earn $168.1 million, less than his original estimate for profit of $181.8 million.

Among its businesses, First American writes title insurance, which reimburses homeowners when there is a problem or an error in the deed transferring ownership of the property.

Title insurance typically is bought only when someone buys a house. With the housing market mired in a slump, not as many people are buying title insurance.

Napoli decided to cut his estimates after Fidelity National Financial Inc. reported a 67 percent decline in profit and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. said it lost $24.2 million in the first quarter.

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