OFHEO Estimates Freddie Had $5.2B Year

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight is estimating that Freddie Mac's pretax earnings totaled $5.2 billion in 2003."Freddie Mac has reported to OFHEO that retained earnings rose $4.3 billion in 2003," OFHEO says in its annual report to Congress. "Combined with dividends paid, that implies earnings of $5.2 billion for the year." Freddie Mac is still in the process of restating its earnings, and the secondary-market agency plans to release its 2003 financial statement on or before June 30, a spokesman said. "Until that time, we really don't have any comment on the [OFHEO] report," the Freddie Mac spokesman said. On Nov. 30, 2003, Freddie Mac reported that its 2002 earnings totaled $10.1 billion, which included substantial one-time gains on its options-based derivative portfolio.