Banking, finance, and taxes

Fannie Mae Bailout Return: $84 Billion Profit in 2013 -- Taxpayers Made Whole

Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae on the street, may still be a disliked company (or agency) to the public. The mortgage backer definitely played a huge role in the housing and mortgage bubble’s burst. And it required billions of dollars to be saved in a bailout. Now Fannie Mae has reported its 2013 earnings and the taxpayers appear to be sitting on a profit from the bailout.

Fannie Mae reported that its income in 2013 was a whopping $84 billion for the year. The fourth-quarter’s profit was $6.6 billion. Fannie Mae will also be sending another $7.2 billion back to the Treasury after this report.

Fannie Mae will have paid the Treasury a whopping $82.5 billion in dividends in 2013. Keep in mind that Fannie Mae’s huge income in 2013 does include the release of its valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets, and annual pre-tax income for 2013 of $38.6 billion.

After the March dividend payment, Fannie Mae will have paid a total of $121.1 billion in dividends to Treasury. This compares to $116.1 billion in draw requests since 2008. In short, the taxpayers are now in the black!

We do not generally cover Bulletin Board stocks. It is still likely that many members of Congress will keep up their fight to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, although the outcries have sure diminished of late. Perhaps being profitable and paying back the Treasury to the point of a taxpayer profit may calm some of the ongoing protests against these agencies.

Fannie Mae’s full release is here.

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