Record Profit, Revenue Reported by Fidelity National Financial : Earnings: Results were boosted by wave of home loan refinancings and acquisition of Meridian Title Insurance Co.

Riding the refinancing wave and bolstering its operations with a major acquisition, Fidelity National Financial Inc. reported Tuesday that it attained record profit and revenue for both the second quarter and six-month period.

The Irvine parent of Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. posted net income of $4.9 million, equal to 88 cents per share, for the second quarter, a 69% increase over net income of $2.9 million, or 64 cents per share, for the second quarter last year. Quarterly revenue shot up 39% to $81.3 million from $58.3 million last year.

For the six-month period, the company earned $7.1 million, or $1.32 per share, more than double the $3.1 million, or 69 cents per share, earned in last year’s first half. Revenue soared 50% to $153.2 million from $102.2 million.

Refinancings of home loans, spurred by ever lower interest rates, have boosted the results of many title insurers. But Fidelity’s performance was also advanced greatly by its acquisition of Meridian Title Insurance Co. and its subsidiaries.

The acquisition, which closed at the end of the second quarter, nearly doubled Fidelity’s size to about $250 million in assets, said William P. Foley II, Fidelity’s chairman. The acquisition cost Fidelity $15.1 million in cash and $6 million in stock.

The merger gave Fidelity $133 million in cash and cashlike investments that could be used for further acquisitions, and the company will be looking soon.

“There’s still a consolidation going on in our industry,” Foley said. “Companies have recognized the economies of scale in merging.”

Foley also attributed Fidelity’s performance to other expansion, including the purchase of the Bay area offices of Continental Lawyers Title Co. of California and the absorption of a failed Las Vegas title insurer, which Fidelity had been operating in receivership at the request of Nevada authorities.

Foley said that the full effect of the acquisitions, especially the Meridian purchase, should be reflected in the company’s financial results for the second half. In addition, refinancings should continue to pump up profits through the end of the year and possibly into next year, he said.

Through subsidiaries, Fidelity issues title insurance and offers other title-related services in 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.