Fannie Mae posted net income of $6.5 billion from October through December, its eighth straight profitable quarter. Fannie will have repaid its full government bailout after paying its fourth-quarter dividend.
Fannie said Friday that its profit was boosted by an accounting move that allowed the government-controlled mortgage giant to capitalize on tax benefits it had saved up from its losses on mortgages during the crisis.
The fourth-quarter profit compares with net income of $7.6 billion in the same period of 2012.
(Watch: FannieMae: Five years later)
Fannie will pay a dividend of $7.2 billion to the U.S. Treasury next month. With its previous payments totaling about $114 billion, it will have more than fully repaid the $116 billion it received from taxpayers.
The government rescued Fannie and sibling Freddie Mac during the financial crisis in 2008.
—By The Associated Press