Fannie Mae's Profit Surged In 1st Quarter:
Fannie Mae, benefiting from lower interest rates that spurred greater mortgage borrowing, reported a sharply higher first-quarter profit yesterday.</br></br>me pant mortgage finance company earned $654.2 million for the first three months of 1996, up from $566.5 million for the same period a year ago. After accounting for dividends on its new preferred stock, the company earned 59 cents a share for the period, up from 52 cents.</br></br>Fannie Mae, formerly known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, was able to increase its marginsÛÓthe difference between the yield on its earning assets, primarily mortgages, and its funding costs.</br></br>i.The higher volume generated $61 million in additional revenue compared with last year, and net interest income climbed by $45.3 million, to $885.5 million, officials said. Fees and other income also were up, they said.</br></br>District-based Fannie Mae is a congressionally chartered, stockholder-owned corporation that buys mortgages from lenders to provide additional capital to the nationÛªs housing markets.