Mortgage giant Freddie Mac posts $227M profit in 4Q; paying $900M dividend to government

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac posted net income of $227 million for the fourth quarter. The government-controlled company's profit was down sharply from the same period of 2013, as it sustained losses on the investments it uses to hedge against swings in interest rates.

Nonetheless, the October-through-December results reported Thursday marked Freddie's 13th straight profitable quarter.

McLean, Virginia-based Freddie also said it will pay a dividend of $900 million to the U.S. Treasury next month. Freddie will have paid $91.8 billion in dividends, exceeding its government bailout of $71.3 billion.

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