Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is reporting net income of $1.3 billion for the fourth quarter. That's down sharply from $6.5 billion a year earlier due largely to losses on investments used to hedge against swings in interest rates.
Still, it was the 12th straight profitable quarter for the government-controlled company.
Washington-based Fannie also said Friday it will pay a dividend of $1.9 billion to the U.S. Treasury next month. Fannie will have paid $136.4 billion in dividends, exceeding the $116 billion it received from taxpayers during the financial crisis.
The government rescued Fannie and smaller sibling Freddie Mac in September 2008.
For Fannie and Freddie, the decline in long-term interest rates last year brought losses on derivatives, financial transactions the companies use to hedge against rate swings.
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