MuniMae 1Q Profits Dive

Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC, Baltimore, has reported net income of $1.2 million ($0.04 per share) for the first quarter, compared with $13.9 million ($0.50 per share) a year earlier.Mark K. Joseph, MuniMae's chairman and chief executive officer, nevertheless expressed satisfaction with the quarterly results, citing "seasonality in our tax credit equity syndication business, which we significantly expanded through a July 2003 acquisition." He also cited MuniMae's cash available for distribution per common share, which the company uses as its primary measure of performance. "While our CAD per share for the first quarter of 2004 [$0.37] did come in below the prior-year results [$0.50], it significantly exceeded our expectations," Mr. Joseph said. MuniMae, which invests in multifamily debt and equity, can be found on the Web at http://www.munimaemidland.com.