Refinancing Helps First American Set Record : Earnings: Profit for quarter nearly tripled like period last year at Santa Ana title insurance and financial services firm.

A surge in mortgage refinancing by homeowners taking advantage of lower interest rates propelled First American Financial Corp. to record third-quarter earnings, the company reported Monday.

Profit for the period that ended Sept. 30 was $11.3 million, or $1.25 a share, nearly triple last year’s third-quarter earnings of $4.3 million, or 44 cents a share. Revenue was $279.8 million, up 46% from $191.5 million.

“Their earnings were sensational,” said Peter Russ, analyst with the brokerage Dominick & Dominick in New York. “In this quarter, we saw an unusual number of closings” of title insurance policies.

“As the rates have come down, people have been thinking about refinancing,” he said. “But they weren’t in any hurry.”

When home-loan rates starting creeping up after dipping below 8% during the late summer, people decided to make their moves, Russ said. Refinancing activity is likely to remain strong at least through the next quarter, he predicted.

First American, based in Santa Ana, provides real estate financial services, including title insurance to property buyers and mortgage lenders.

At First American, President D.P. Kennedy said, “We are pleased to note that our direct title insurance operations opened more title orders during the third-quarter 1992 than during any other quarter in the company’s history.” Title order openings are a barometer of real estate activity because any real estate transaction, whether the refinancing of an existing mortgage or the sale of a house, requires an application for title insurance.

For the first nine months of the year, First American reported a profit of $31 million, or $3.45 a share, compared to earnings of $654,000, or 7 cents a share, for the same time period a year earlier. Nine-month revenue was $789 million, up 47%.

Also Monday, the company announced the offering of 1.85 million shares of common stock at $18 apiece. The company said it plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including the possibility of acquiring other title insurance operations or related businesses.

The offering brings the total number of shares outstanding to 11 million. The stock closed at $18 a share, unchanged, in NASDAQ trading Monday.