Equity Residential (EQR), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), reported fiscal 2009 fourth quarter funds from operations (FFO) of $126.9 million or 43 cents per share, compared to $79.1 million or 27 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. Fund from operations, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income. For full year 2009, FFO was $616.1 million or $2.12 per share compared to $619.0 million or $2.13 per share in the previous year.
Total revenues during the quarter were $483.0 million compared to $501.1 million in the year-ago period. Same-store (fourth quarter 2009 vs. fourth quarter 2008 comparison which includes 117,683 apartment units) quarterly revenues decreased 4.7%, while same-store operating expenses decreased 1.9%. Same-store net operating income (NOI) during the quarter decreased 6.3% year-over-year primarily due to 4.5% decrease in average rental rates. For full year 2009, total revenues were $1.9 billion compared to $2.0 billion in the previous year.
During the quarter, Equity Residential acquired two properties totaling 566 units for $145 million at a weighted average cap rate of 5.9%. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the company acquired five properties totaling 1,174 units for $495.6 million at a weighted average cap rate of 5.7%. During the fourth quarter, Equity Residential sold seven consolidated properties, consisting of 2,236 apartment units, for an aggregate sale price of $170.7 million at a weighted average cap rate of 7.8%. For full year 2009, the company sold 54 consolidated properties totaling 11,055 apartment units for $905.2 million at a weighted average cap rate of 7.6%.
Equity Residential purchased approximately $344.3 million of non-exchangeable and exchangeable notes in a debt tender offer during the quarter. The company issued approximately 3.5 million common shares at an average price of $35.38 each during fourth quarter of 2009. Equity Residential also issued approximately 1.1 million common shares during the first quarter of 2010 at an average price of $33.87 each.
At year-end 2009, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $193.3 million and total debt of $9.4 billion. For full year 2010, Equity Residential expects FFO in the range of $1.95 to $2.15 per share, while FFO for the first quarter is expected in the range of 48 cents to 52 cents.
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