Fidelity National Ratings Downgrade

Fitch Ratings, Chicago, has cut the issuer default rating of Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., from BBB+ down to BBB, while at the same time cutting the insurer financial strength ratings of the company from A down to A-. FNF recently reported a $198.3 million net loss for the third quarter, 2008, with its title insurance business losing $279.4 million on a pre-tax basis. During the quarter FNF took a $261.6 million charge to strengthen its reserves. Fitch commented "FNF had been less conservative than its national peers, booking expected loss reserves for the policy years 2005-2007. Consequently, FNF's profitability was somewhat overstated during the period, negatively impacting what was seen as a core advantage of FNF relative to peers." FNF also cut its dividend by 50%, to $0.15 per share. Fitch said the slash addressed its "concern that the underlying profitability of the title operations in the current environment did not support the shareholder dividend."