By Jim Puzzanghera Los Angeles Times
Fannie Mae posted its eighth straight profitable quarter in the final three months of last year and will send the federal government $7.2 billion, pushing its total dividend payments above the cost of the 2008 bailout for the first time, the company said Friday.
Boosted by the housing market rebound, the mortgage giant posted $6.5 billion in profit in the fourth quarter of 2013 and a record $84 billion for the year.
The dividend payment, based on those profits, will bring the total amount Fannie Mae has paid to the Treasury Department to $121.1 billion. That will more than fully offset the $116.1 billion in goverment aid it received since 2008.
