The news just keeps getting worse at embattled mortgage finance company Fannie Mae (FNM). The Washington, D.C.-based company, which buys up mortgages from banks, posted on Thursday a staggering $18.9 billion loss -- its ninth consecutive deficit -- as it incurred more expenses stemming from foreclosed properties. The news forced the outfit, which already has a $200 billion credit facility with the U.S. government, to hit up the feds for another $15 billion, the company said in a statement.On the plus side, Fannie Mae, which has been under government receivership since last year, said its third-quarter revenue rose 6 percent to $5.9 billion from $5.6 billion in the previous quarter, as net interest income rose.
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The government has essentially been running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since September 2008 after it moved to keep the mortgage lenders from going bankrupt. The $5 trillion in home loans they're responsible for made them too big to fail, according to many experts.
The third-quarter's $3.47 per share loss was nevertheless narrower than the $13 per share loss in the year-ago quarter. The results, however, forced Fannie Mae into a net worth deficit of $15 billion, causing the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which runs it, to request a loan of that amount from the U.S. Department of Treasury. According to Bloomberg, Fannie has already taken $44.9 billion in federal aid since April.
Fannie shares fell nearly 10 percent in after-hours trading.
