First American Buoyed by Title Firm Activity : Earnings: Refinancing and recovering real estate market help company post record profit and revenue for first half of 1992.

SANTA ANA — Buoyed by home refinancings in California and a recovering real estate market in the rest of the nation, First American Financial Corp. posted record profit and revenue for both the second quarter and the first six months of 1992.

The parent company of First American Title Insurance Co., the nation’s second-largest title insurer, earned $13.4 million, or $1.50 a share, for the second quarter, more than double its profit of $5.9 million, or 60 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenue leaped 42% to $280.9 million from $197.4 million.

The quarterly figures boosted six-month earnings to $19.7 million, or $2.20 a share, a major turnaround from a loss of $3.6 million, or 37 cents a share, for last year’s first half. Revenue soared 48% to $509.3 million from $345 million.

First American Title recorded a record volume of title orders as low interest rates spurred homeowners to refinance their mortgages during the first half of the year, said Donald P. Kennedy, president of the Santa Ana parent company.

Such loans, which bolstered the lending and title industries in the latter part of 1991, provided the company with most of its California orders. The state typically accounts for more than a third of First American’s revenue.

Real estate sales also revived elsewhere in the nation, especially toward the end of the second quarter, Kennedy said. Those home purchases, producing more orders for title insurance, were particularly strong in the Midwest, he said. The company’s East Coast operations also were profitable, compared to losses there a year earlier.

The company expects to see strong results for the rest of the year as California homeowners continue to refinance and as home sales improve elsewhere, Kennedy said. He also attributed the company’s recent gains to strong performances from its home-warranty and tax service subsidiaries.

First American Financial has a network of more than 7,000 offices or agents in every state and in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom.