Record Profit for Santa Ana Title Insurer : Insurance: First American Financial posts the highest third-quarter earnings and revenue in its 104-year history.

First American Financial Corp., a Santa Ana title insurance company, reported record-breaking third-quarter results on Wednesday because of a large number of home mortgage refinancings.

Profit, earnings per share and revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 all reached the highest levels in the company’s 104-year history, President Parker S. Kennedy said.

The company’s quarterly earnings per share jumped 38% to $1.72, compared to $1.25 for the same period a year earlier, despite a 26% increase in the number of shares outstanding. The company reported revenue of $376.8 million, an increase of 35% from $279.7 million for the third quarter of 1992. And profit skyrocketed 73% to $19.6 million from $11.3 million.

“We continue to benefit from the low-interest-rate environment, as refinancings are staying extraordinarily strong,” Kennedy said. “We are also beginning to see renewed signs of commercial and industrial activity.”

Michael R. Hughes, an analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co. in San Francisco, said First American had “a bang-up quarter.” He predicted that the company will do equally well during the rest of 1993 and through the first quarter next year, despite indications that the number of California homeowners refinancing their mortgages seems to have leveled off.

TRW Redi Property Data, a real estate information company, released figures this week showing that, between January and September, just under 850,000 refinance mortgages were originated by lenders in California. That was only slightly above the level of 834,000 recorded in the same period last year.

“Refinancings may be leveling off, but they are leveling off at a robust level,” Hughes said. “More importantly, you’re seeing activity in the resale market and some life in the commercial market, although mostly in other states.”

In Orange County, refinancings were down 1.2% to 99,984 through September this year. In Northern California, however, refinancings increased 8.6%.

First American provides title insurance, tax monitoring, home warranty, credit reporting and property information services to buyers and lenders nationwide. The company also operates a trust and banking business in Southern California.

In Wednesday’s Nasdaq trading, First American’s stock gained 50 cents a share to close at $33.75.