Freddie Mac Q2 loss soars to $6 bn

Bailed out mortgage lender Freddie Mac today reported a massive rise in its losses to $6 billion in the three months ended June and said it will seek another $1.8 billion aid from the American taxpayers.

Ravaged by the 2008 financial meltdown, Freddie Mac and another mortgage firm Fannie Mae had come under the control of the US treasury. Freddie Mac in a statement said the April- June quarter losses include $1.3-billion paid as dividend to the government. The entity survived the financial crisis after receiving billions of dollars worth public money.

In the 2009 June quarter, the firm had a loss of $840 million. The massive loss in the 2010 second quarter was mainly on account of loans acquired between 2005 and 2008.

According to the statement, the company would ask for $1.8 billion from the government and anticipates to get the amount by September 30. "We recognise that high unemployment and other factors still pose very real challenges for the housing market. We continue to focus on the quality of the new business we are adding to our book as we support nation's housing market," Freddie Mac Chief Executive Charles E Haldeman Jr said.