Equity Residential's 2Q Profits Up

Equity Residential, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, has reported net income of approximately $275 million for the second quarter ($0.95 per share), compared with $150 million ($0.51 per share) for the second quarter of 2006.The company, the largest multifamily REIT by market capitalization, attributed the rise in earnings to higher gains on property sales in the second quarter. David J. Neithercut, Equity Residential's president and chief executive officer, said he expects revenue growth to slow in the second half of the year, mainly because of markets that have been affected by "excessive condominium construction and/or reversion and high single-family home inventories," particularly Florida, Phoenix, the Inland Empire region of California, and Washington, D.C. The REIT is revising its acquisition and sales targets for 2007 in view of the "recent pullback in the debt markets," which it expects to reduce transaction activity. Equity Residential can be found online at http://www.equityapartments.com.