Stewart Information Services Corporation (STC) has reported 541.04 percent jump in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $16.70 million, or $0.71 a share in the quarter, compared with $2.60 million, or $0.11 a share for the same period last year.
Revenue during the quarter grew 5.70 percent to $525.76 million from $497.40 million in the previous year period.
Total expenses move up marginally
Operating income for the quarter was $23.02 million, compared with $3.10 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $36.50 million compared with $18.20 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 328 basis points in the quarter to 6.94 percent from 3.66 percent in the last year period.
Net investment income was at $4.48 million for the quarter, up 8.90 percent or $0.37 million from year-ago period. The company has booked a loss on investments of $5.37 million in the quarter compared with a loss of $2.10 million for the previous year period.
"Our fourth quarter delivered a solid finish to an important year for Stewart," said Matthew W. Morris, chief executive officer. "We generated revenue growth in our core title operations while continuing to add more efficiency to our cost structure. We also took additional actions to focus on our core operations and significantly improve the anticipated 2017 results of our ancillary services operations. Fourth quarter 2016 was also an indication of the improvement inherent in our transformed operating model, with adjusted EBITDA increasing by $18 million, or 100 percent, relative to a $32 million, or six percent, increase in adjusted revenues."
Assets outpace liabilities growth
Total assets increased 1.52 percent or $20.14 million to $1,341.72 million on Dec. 31, 2016. On the other hand, total liabilities were at $692.88 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 1.23 percent or $8.42 million from year-ago.
Return on assets stood at 1.57 percent in the quarter, up 1.13 from 0.44 percent in the last year period. At the same time, return on equity was at 2.57 percent in the quarter, up 2.16 from 0.41 percent in the last year period.
Investments move up
Investments stood at $653.74 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 5.52 percent or $34.19 million from year-ago. Meanwhile, yield on investments went up 2 basis points to 0.69 percent in the quarter.
Total debt was at $106.81 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 4.31 percent or $4.41 million from year-ago. Shareholders equity stood at $648.85 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 1.84 percent or $11.72 million from year-ago. As a result, debt to equity ratio was almost stable at 0.16 percent in the quarter, when compared with the last year period.
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