Freddie Mac will return $746 million to the Treasury Department next month after reporting first-quarter net income of $524 million, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.
The new payment by Freddie Mac, which has been under conservatorship since 2008, will bring total returns to $92.6 billion, far beyond what the company received in federal aid to stay afloat during the credit crisis.
"Our strong business momentum from last year carried into the first quarter, enabling us to again produce earnings despite a continued declining rate environment, so we can return further dividends to taxpayers," Donald Layton, the company's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Freddie Mac and larger rival Fannie Mae are required to pay Treasury all profits above a minimum net worth under terms established after they were seized by regulators amid losses that pushed them to the brink of collapse. The money counts as a return on the U.S. investment and not as repayment, leaving no existing mechanism for them to exit government control.
