Farmer Mac Reports 3Q Loss

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., Washington, has reported a net loss to common stockholders of $8.6 million ($0.82 per share) for the third quarter, compared with a loss of $6.3 million ($0.58 per share) for the third quarter of 2006.Farmer Mac attributed the losses in both periods to market value changes on financial derivatives used to hedge interest rate risk on Farmer Mac's assets and liabilities. The government-sponsored enterprise also reported "core earnings," a performance measure based on net income available to common stockholders less the after-tax effects of unrealized gains and losses on financial derivatives. Core earnings totaled $7.6 million in the third quarter, versus $6.5 million a year earlier. "Focusing on core earnings, in light of the volatility of the capital markets during the last quarter, we are extremely pleased with Farmer Mac's strong financial results in third-quarter 2007 -- up 18% in comparison to the third quarter of 2006," said Henry D. Edelman, Farmer Mac's president and chief executive officer. The company can be found online at http://www.farmermac.com.