The amount of money that taxpayers have forked over to keep Freddie Mac afloat will soon be matched by the amount of dividends that the government-controlled enterprise has paid out to the Department of the Treasury.
As of Sept. 30, the McLean, Va.-based company had $3.4 billion outstanding in repurchase requests, according to its third-quarter earnings report.
Income prior to taxes was $6.5 billion, rising from the second quarter’s $4.9 billion in pre-tax income.
“The increase primarily reflects higher other non-interest income, driven by gains on securities in the company’s mortgage-related investments portfolio, gains on multifamily mortgage loans and settlement proceeds related to private label securities litigation,” the report said. “These favorable impacts were partially offset by a shift from derivative gains in the second quarter to derivative losses in the third quarter.”
Freddie acknowledged that its profit levels are unsustainable because the pace of housing price improvements will slow, settlements will fade and revenues from its shrinking mortgage portfolio will diminish. In addition, the agreement with the Treasury will also cut into future income.
Including a $23.9 billion benefit from deferred tax assets, Freddie’s after-tax third-quarter profit was $30.4 billion.
Treasury draws received by Freddie since entering conservatorship in September 2008 total $71.3 billion, though no draws have been requested in six quarters.
Freddie will have paid out a total of $71.3 billion in dividends to the Treasury as of Dec. 31, 2013.
