Freddie Mac will receive a $13.8 billion cash injection from the government, the company said yesterday, after it reported a $25.3 billion loss in the third quarter on the declining value of mortgage investments and other charges.

The capital injection is the first into Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae since the government took over the mortgage finance giant in early September. Freddie Mac experienced heavy losses as its portfolio of mortgage securities - including risky subprime-backed securities - lost value and more borrowers fell behind or defaulted on mortgages. The company more than doubled its reserves to cover future losses. In addition, it wrote down the value of tax credits it was unlikely to use.

The company's losses, when combined with those since the housing downturn started, wipe out nearly all its earnings over the past decade.

And the need for government money may only be beginning, Barclays Capital analyst Rajiv Setia said in a research note. When the government took over suburban McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac and Washington-based Fannie Mae in September, it agreed to pump as much as $100 billion into each of the companies to prevent them from going broke, which would occur if their liabilities exceed assets.

Freddie Mac's huge loss punched a $13.8 billion hole in the company's balance sheet, prompting the taxpayer investment. That leaves Freddie Mac solvent, but without any financial cushion.

As a result, under the agreement with the government, the Treasury Department will have to pump money into the company if it continues to report big losses.

"We expect another 'kitchen sink' quarter" when the company reports results for the final three months of the year and takes all the losses it can, Setia said.

The government has asked Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy more mortgages, flooding lenders with cash in an effort to bring down interest rates on mortgages. So far, those efforts have failed.

On Monday, Fannie Mae reported a $29 billion loss, bringing it close to triggering a government cash injection.

Freddie Mac said the economic downturn is creating a second wave of problems in the housing market, citing declining home prices, increasing unemployment, a big fall in consumer spending and tightening of credit.