#FNMA on the news NEW YORK TIMES: $59 billion

#FNMA on the news

NEW YORK TIMES: $59 billion tax related gain will be posted at the first-quarter report

Fannie Mae Reports Record $7.6 Billion Quarterly Earnings
By REUTERS
Published: April 2, 2013


WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage financier in the United States, said Tuesday that it earned $7.6 billion in the fourth quarter, a record amount. It also predicted that it would be profitable “for the foreseeable future,” the latest sign that it is benefiting from a housing market recovery.
Add to Portfolio With its fourth-quarter earnings , Fannie Mae, which is owned by the federal government, earned $17.2 billion in 2012 — its first profitable year since 2006 and in contrast to its $16.9 billion loss in 2011.

Fannie Mae and its smaller sibling, Freddie Mac , were bailed out in 2008 as the housing crisis intensified, but the mortgage market has stabilized since then. The companies can now focus on their timetable for repaying their debt to taxpayers, $117.1 billion for Fannie Mae.

Home prices in January were 8.1 percent higher than a year earlier and mortgage delinquencies in the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, fell to their lowest level since 2008.

Last year “really marked a turning point for us,” Timothy Mayopoulos, Fannie Mae’s chief executive, said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

The company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that despite its higher profit, it was not taking a tax -related gain that could have added as much as $59 billion to its earnings. Recording the gain would have required Fannie Mae to pay a bigger dividend to the Treasury and would have limited its access to bailout support.

Fannie Mae said in the filing that it expected to start taking those tax-related gains as early as when it files its first-quarter report. The federal government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008 as losses on souring loans mounted, and eased some terms of the bailout early this year. The government has said it hopes eventually to withdraw support from the two companies, which, with the Federal Housing Administration , provide financing for nine out of 10 new home loans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/business/fa....html?_r=0