Fannie Maewill pay the Treasury Department $4 billion by Dec. 31 as the U.S.-owned mortgage financier continues to benefit from a rebounding housing market.Washington-basedFannie Mae, which has been under federal conservatorship for six years, had net income of $3.9 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.
“What you saw last quarter and what you’re seeing this quarter is what I think we should expect in a more normalized business environment,” Timothy J. Mayopoulos,FannieMae’s chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview. “We see that housing is on a slow, steady upward line.”
Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac were seized by regulators in September 2008, just before the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., amid losses that pushed them toward collapse. The companies provide liquidity to the mortgage market by buying loans and packaging them into guaranteed securities.
Fannie Maereceived $116.1 billion in aid from the Treasury and is required to send all of its profits back to the U.S. under the terms of the bailout. The company will have sent taxpayers a total of $134.5 billion after its next payment, an amount that counts as a return on the U.S. investment and not as repayment of the aid.
The company’s common stock, which doesn’t trade on an exchange, is down 23% for the year at $2.32 per share, after reaching a high of $6.35 in March.
