Fannie Mae reports 3Q loss of $5.1 billion, asks for $7.8 billion

Fannie Mae reported a loss of nearly $5.1 billion for the third quarter and asked the federal government for another $7.8 billion. The mortgage finance giant said the loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 includes $4.9 billion of credit-related costs mostly due to its legacy, or pre-2009, book of business, and $4.5 billion of fair-value losses mainly attributable to losses on risk-management derivatives from declines in swap interest rates during the quarter. The government put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship in 2008 and the companies have received more than $169 billion in federal bailouts, so far. President and CEO Michael Williams said the company’s third-quarter results were “significantly affected by continued weakness in the housing market and overall economy.” Fannie Mae reported a total comprehensive loss of $5.28 billion for the third quarter and paid $2.5 billion in preferred dividends to the Treasury Department during the quarter. Therefore, the company reported a net worth deficit of $7.8 billion at Sept. 30, and asked for as much to eliminate the deficit. Including the most-recent request, Fannie Mae still owes the government another $11.3 billion and its total obligation to the Treasury will be $112.6 billion. For the year-ago third quarter, Fannie Mae reported a loss of $1.34 billion. Write to Jason Philyaw. Follow him on Twitter: @jrphilyaw.