Freddie Mac posts $1.2B net income for 2Q

Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac posted net income of $1.2 billion for the second quarter and isn’t requesting any additional federal aid for the period. The government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae in September 2008 after massive losses on risky mortgages threatened to topple them. Taxpayers have spent about $170 billion to rescue Fannie and Freddie, the costliest bailout of the 2008 financial crisis. It could cost about $200 billion more to support the companies through 2014 after subtracting dividend payments, according to the government. This is the fifth quarter in which Freddie hasn’t requested new federal aid since it was taken over in September 2008. Freddie Mac requested $19 million in federal aid in the first quarter. The company received $7.6 billion for all of 2011 and $13 billion for all of 2010. McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac says that its net income attributable to common shareholders amounted to 37 cents per share in the April-June period. That compares with a loss of $3.76 billion, or $1.16 per share, in the same period a year ago. It was Freddie’s first profitable quarter since the first quarter of 2011. Read the full story here.