Freddie Mac posts $4.1B loss for Q3

WASHINGTON — Government-controlled mortgage buyer Freddie Mac on Wednesday posted a narrower loss of $4.1 billon in the third quarter as it asked for an additional $100 million in federal aid – substantially less than the $1.8 billion it sought in the second quarter.

Freddie Mac’s loss attributable to common stockholders for the July-September quarter works out to $1.25 a share. It takes into account $1.6 billion in dividend payments to the government. It compares with a loss of $6.7 billion, or $2.06 a share, in the third quarter of 2009.

The government rescued McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac and sibling company Fannie Mae nearly two years ago to cover their losses on soured mortgage loans, and it estimates the bailouts will cost taxpayers up to $259 billion.

That’s nearly twice the $133 billion Fannie and Freddie are in line to receive from taxpayers so far and would make theirs the costliest bailout of the financial crisis.

The two mortgage giants have been hit by massive losses on risky mortgages purchased from 2005 through 2008. The companies have tightened their lending standards after those loans started to go bad.