Despite significant charges related to mortgage holdings, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta said Friday it still managed to report a profit for 2008.
In a press release, the Atlanta Home Loan bank said it took $186.1 million in other-than-temporary-impairment charges during 2008, but still recorded $253.8 million in net earnings for the year.
Still, that income was 43% lower than 2007 earnings. Net income of $74.6 million in the fourth quarter was 39.2% less than in the fourth quarter of 2007.
“The bank continues to satisfy the funding requests of its members and remains fundamentally sound during this most difficult of market environments,” Richard Dorfman, the Atlanta Home Loan bank’s chief executive, said in the release.
Earnings at several Home Loan banks have been weighed down in the past year because of OTTI charges on private-label mortgage-backed securities. At the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, charges were so severe that it caused the bank to break the buck last week.
OTTI charges at the 12 Home Loan banks totaled almost $2 billion last year.
