Title firm says growth may slow

First American Corp. said Thursday that first-quarter profit rose 24%, but that the housing slowdown could continue to weigh on results in its title insurance unit.

The Santa Ana company’s net income rose to $83.8 million, or 84 cents a share, from $67.8 million, or 69 cents, a year earlier. Excluding special items, profit per share slipped to 68 cents from 69 cents, First American said.

Analysts on average expected profit of 80 cents a share on revenue of $2.03 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Pretax profit from title insurance and related services fell 29% to $56 million, as revenue declined 2% to $1.44 billion. Revenue rose 6% to $2.11 billion.

First American said its title, tax monitoring and flood certification businesses “may experience a slower level of revenue growth” in 2007.

Shares of First American fell $1.38 to $49.82.