Fannie Mae earns $5.3B in 1Q; paying $5.7B to US

WASHINGTON - Fannie Mae posted net income of $5.3 billion from January through March, its ninth straight profitable quarter, as the housing market continued to heal.

Washington-based Fannie said Thursday it will pay a dividend of $5.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury next month. With its previous payments totaling about $121 billion, Fannie has more than fully repaid the $116 billion it received from taxpayers.

Fannie's first-quarter profit compared with record net income of $58.7 billion in the same period of 2013. The year-ago figure was mainly due to a one-time accounting move that allowed the company to lower its tax liability by applying losses on delinquent mortgages to its 2013 taxes.

The government rescued Fannie and smaller sibling Freddie Mac at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008.