Emeritus to Restate '03, '04 Earnings

Emeritus Assisted Living, a Seattle-based provider of assisted-living and related services to senior citizens, has announced that it will restate its financial results for 2003 and 2004 and expects to make downward revisions to earnings.The company said it expects to decrease net income to common shareholders by approximately $470,000 in 2003 and approximately $310,000 in the first quarter of this year. Emeritus said the reason for the restatements was a determination by its Audit Committee that its sale of four communities in September 2003 should not have been accounted for under sale/leaseback accounting. As part of the transaction, Emeritus said it provided a letter of credit against the default of the underlying loans and continued a security interest in facility receivables, among other things. The Audit Committee concluded that this constitutes "continuing involvement" in the communities, which precludes the use of sale/leaseback accounting, Emeritus said. The company can be found online at http://www.emeritus.com.