WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has lost roughly $50 million on its sale of stock in six small banks bailed out in the 2008 financial crisis. But the Treasury Department says the three-year investment was profitable after counting dividends and investments.

The department says it received $362 million from the first public auction of its preferred stock in small banks. Treasury invested $410.8 million in the six banks.

But Treasury notes that when including $65.4 million in dividends and interest, the return from investment was $427.4 million.

The profits from the investment will help offset losses in the broader financial bailout, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The government has recovered about $318 billion of the $413 billion that was lent to financial institutions and automakers under TARP.