Equity Residential's 2Q Earnings Slip

Equity Residential, Chicago, has reported net income of $108.55 million ($0.39 per share) for the second quarter, down from $112.15 million ($0.41 per share) for the comparable period of 2003.Equity Residential, the largest multifamily real estate investment trust by market capitalization, also made its first New York City acquisition in the second quarter -- a 259-unit Midtown Manhattan property purchased for $93.1 million, representing a capitalization rate of 5.2%. "We are encouraged by improving revenues in the majority of our top 20 markets, which we believe is a sign of the continuing recovery of the apartment industry," said Bruce W. Duncan, Equity Residential's president and chief executive officer. "The improvement in our revenues is a result primarily of increases in occupancy, and therefore we continue to remain cautious about the strength of the recovery until we see meaningful improvement in rental rate." Equity Residential can be found online at http://www.equityapartments.com.