LandAmerica Reports 4Q Loss

LandAmerica Financial Corp., Richmond, Va., has reported a net loss of $45.9 million ($3.01 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $34.3 million ($1.95 per share) a year earlier. For the full year, the company lost $54.1 million ($3.31 per share), compared with net income of $98.8 million ($5.61 per share) the year before. LandAmerica took a pretax charge of $41.3 million in the fourth quarter, of which $30.4 million was related to closed offices, $6.4 million to the early extinguishment of debt, and $4.5 million to the impairment of intangible and long-lived assets. "The liquidity crunch in the mortgage credit markets beginning early in the third quarter of the year brought a precipitous 34% decline in residential mortgage originations in fourth-quarter 2007 compared to the same period in 2006," said LandAmerica chairman and chief executive Theodore L. Chandler Jr. "Despite the challenging operating environment, our liquidity remained strong, with cash flows from operations of $30 million for the quarter and $114 million for the year."