Equity Residential, the largest publicly traded apartment landlord, reported quarterly funds from operations that rose in part because of a gain on the early extinguishment of debt.

The real estate investment trust (REIT) with properties across the state posted fourth-quarter FFO of $126.9 million, or 43 cents per share, up from $79.1 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago. The results include a charge of 9 cents a share for the repurchase of debt, 40 cents a share for the impairment of the value of land and a gain of 6 cents a share for the early extinguishment of debt.

Analysts expected 44 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. FFO, a key performance measure for REITs, excludes the profit-reducing effect of depreciation.

Excluding the one-time items, the company reported FFO of 52 cents per share, compared with 61 cents per share a year earlier.

Chicago-based Equity Residential, whose chairman is real estate mogul Sam Zell, said it expects first-quarter 2010 FFO of 48 cents to 52 cents per share and full-year FFO of $1.95 to $2.15 per share.

"2009 was a difficult year for our national economy, the apartment business and for
Equity Residential," said David J. Neithercut, Equity Residential’s president and CEO. "However, despite the highest unemployment levels in recent history, our same store revenues were down only 2.9 percent for the year, which is a credit to our people, our properties and our platform. We are excited about our prospects as fundamentals improve in the year ahead."

Analysts, on average, expect FFO of 49 cents per share for the first quarter and $1.97 per share for the full year.

The company reported after the closing bell. In regular trading, its shares closed down 2.9 percent at $32.37 and were unchanged in after-hours trade.