Federal Home Loan Banks Net Income Decline 51 Percent
July 3 2009 - Combined net income for the Federal Home Loan Banks fell 51% to $345 million in the first quarter from $697 million a year earlier, according to a report released Thursday by the banks’ Office of Finance.
The drop reflects $516 million of write-downs on mortgage securities held by some of the 12 regional banks.
The home loan banks, chartered by Congress in 1932, are cooperatives owned by more than 8,000 commercial banks, thrifts, credit unions and insurers. Their main business is making loans, known as advances, to their owners.
Total advances outstanding from the banks declined to $817.41 billion as of March 31 from $928.64 billion three months earlier. After surging in 2007 and early 2008, demand for those advances has slackened, partly because of the recession and partly because the federal government has offered alternative funding programs for commercial banks.
