国际英语新闻：Fannie Mae posts smallest quarterly loss in three years

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. mortgage giant Fannie Mae on Thursday reported the smallest quarterly loss in three years, while asking for another 1.5 billion dollars in federal aid.

The company reported a net loss of 1.2 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2010, compared to a net loss of 11.5 billion dollars in the earlier quarter.

Fannie Mae Chief Executive Mike Williams attributed the improvements in its financial results to the conservative approach the company adopted recently.

"We are focused on sustainable homeownership, and our higher underwriting and eligibility standards reflect that," he said in a statement. "Across our industry, we are seeing a more realistic approach to housing and lending that bodes well for the future."

Net revenue was 4.5 billion dollars in the April-to-June period, up 49 percent from the first quarter of this year, the earnings report showed.

During the second quarter, Fannie Mae paid 1.9 billion dollars in dividends to the Treasury Department, for taxpayers' money it had received since it was put under federal control in September 2008.

The company so far has received a total of 85 billion dollars in federal aid, and it asked for another 1.5 billion dollars to keep afloat.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-controlled mortgage giants, own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million home loans worth more than 5 trillion dollars.