Freddie Mac narrowed its first-quarter loss as a result of a change in how it accounts for mortgages it guarantees. That helped offset deeper credit losses suffered as more borrowers defaulted on loans.
Watch video:

Investors snatched up Freddie Mac shares after Chief Financial Officer Buddy Piszel said the company has "greatly reduced" the risk of losing money, and new capital will be available for growth in higher margin investments and guaranty business where fees secure risen. The company said it doesn't expect more dividend cuts.
The results showed Freddie Mac has strengthened its ability to support the crumbling U.S. housing supermarket that many economists say is tipping the economy into recession.
Last week, rival government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae reported a massive loss and cut its dividend. The two companies chartered to raise money for housing own or guarantee nearly half of all U.S. home mortgages.
The result for Freddie Mac "wasn't worse than expected and raising initial is a good preoccupation" for intumescence, said Malcolm Polley, chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors in Indiana, Pennsylvania. "It means Freddie's business wishes be able to expand and it will be used to put some passable of backstop to this mess we are in. And, the government is behind them."
The McLean, Virginia-based company said its net loss widened to $151 million, or 66 cents per share, from $133 million, or 35 cents per share loss in the same period a year earlier. It lost a record $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter.
Analysts expected Freddie Mac to post a net wastage of $1.57 per share in the first quarter, Reuters Estimates show.
While Freddie Mac benefited from accounting rules, overall credit-related expenses peaceful jumped to $1.45 billion in the quarter from $262 million a year earlier.
HOUSING BOTTOM STILL AHEAD
"It's clear we have not yet collision ass in the housing superstore," Freddie Mac Chief Executive Richard Syron said in a seminar call. Risks to Freddie Mac's forecast for falling home prices this year and next "are strongly weighted on the downside," he added.
Freddie Mac raised its forecast of credit costs in 2008 to 16 basis points of its portfolio from 12 basis points.
The company reiterated its view that its $154 billion in asset-backed securities — including subprime bonds — would not generate losses despite namby-pamby markets. But it re-categorized the assets as "level 3," which denote securities whose values are based entirely on superintendence estimates versus "floor 2," where estimates are created based on market prices and inputs.
Freddie Mac said it is working to mitigate loan losses by encouraging lenders to ease terms on homeowners. It also sent bad loans back to lenders pattern quarter at a pace twice as fast as in the second half of 2007 after finding originators did not meet underwriting standards, Piszel told Reuters.
Shares of Freddie Mac surged 9.2 percent to $27.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, although they are still down about 20 percent this year. Shares of Fannie Mae (FNM.N), also rose, climbing 6.3 percent to $29.89.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae be suffering with struggled since last year to maintain a balance between managing rising esteem losses and expanding their businesses. Scrutiny has intensified since they are among the few tall companies whose access to credit has been largely unfettered during the mortgage-led credit juncture.
FOE BECOMES FRIEND
The two companies are among the ranks of large financial institutions raising capital to offset losses. Their regulator has encouraged them to build capital and boost their exposure to the housing market by lowering the minimum they must hold.
Freddie Mac said it would raise $5.5 billion in matchless with common and preferred stock, likely after it completes registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission by mid-year. It thinks fitting add to the $6 billion capital held in excess of its au courant regulatory minimum, and the amount freed by a cut in a surplus mandate to 15 percent from 20 percent.
"The federal government that was really their worst adversary for a handful years is doing the whole kit possible to care for them going," said David Dreman, chairman of Jersey City, New Jersey-based Dreman Value Management, which holds big positions in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. They should see "crucial" earnings from new business, though peradventure not until 2010, he added.
Freddie Mac expects to see 40 percent to 50 percent crop in its investment income this year and 15 percent to 20 percent growth in its mortgage bond guaranty business, he said. The company mortgage portfolio increased in April to about $738 billion from $712 billion in March.
The company has already committed to obtain about $100 billion in securities this year, he said. Purchases have been mostly Freddie Mac-issued mortgage securities, Piszel said.
In March, Piszel insisted the company was not planning any "dilutive" capital raising. While the capital may help the company become profitable, expected earnings are still not enough to offset the impact of shareholder dilution, said Stewart Capital's Polley, who doesn't own Freddie Mac shares.
Piszel said in an interview that the earnings power of the capital raised has to be considered when determining dilution.
(Additional reporting by Lynn Adler; Editing by way of Jan Paschal)