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Aug 30, 2007
The company said it earned $764 million , or $1.02 a share, in the quarter ended June 30, compared to $1.40 billion, or $1.93 a share, in the same period a year ago.
Total quarterly revenue rose to $2.26 billion, up nearly 5% from the prior year's $2.15 billion.
Freddie said its provision for credit losses in the second quarter was $320 million.
It said its total credit-related costs in the quarter were $336 million, up from $63 million last year.
Many observers are expecting a political and financial plan from Freddie Mac and its cousin Fannie Mae, as well as Congress and the Bush administration, to help prevent massive foreclosures on mortgages held by millions of U.S. homebuyers with the weakest credit profiles.
Also Thursday, Syron told investors during a conference call that Freddie can play a fuller role in the mortgage market but that it is "constrained" by limits on its asset portfolio and capital surpluses. "There is still a need ... for long-term, committed investment in the mortgage market," Syron said.
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the agency that regulates both Fannie and Freddie, has rejected a plea by Fannie to buy more mortgages, but it left the door open to a review of that position.
In a letter to Sen. Charles Schumer, Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said Fannie and Freddie could expand their lending without changing their portfolio caps by selling some of their current holdings in the mortgage market. The letter, dated Aug. 27, wasreleased by Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday.
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