Fannie Mae said yesterday it would draw more than $15bn of assistance from the US Treasury after a sixth consecutive quarterly loss – $25.2bn in the fourth quarter – drove its net worth below zero.

Fannie predicted more red ink in the future: 'We expect the market conditions that contributed to our net loss for each quarter of 2008 to continue and possibly worsen in 2009, which is likely to cause further reductions in our net worth.'

Fannie’s fourth-quarter net loss of $4.47 a share forced it to request its first instalment from a $200bn federal lifeline established for Fannie and rival Freddie Mac, the mortgage financier said in a filing.

Financial Times