Equity Inns Dividends Make Comeback

GERMANTOWN, TN— Equity Inns’ board of directors has declared quarterly cash dividends of $0.12 per common share and $0.59375 per preferred share for the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The common-share dividend is payable May 1 and the preferred-share dividend is payable Apr. 30 to shareholders of record on Mar. 29, The hotel real estate investment trust had suspended payment of a common-share dividend in the fourth quarter of 2001 “as a result of the softening economy and the sudden drop in travel following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Equity Inns President/COO Howard Silver noted that, in February, the company’s stated goal “was to reinstate a dividend payment as quickly as possible. We also stated— based on projections from our operators— we expected to pay a 2002 dividend of between $0.46 – $0.59, with an annualized rate by the end of 2002 ranging from $0.52 – $0.68.” As Silver pointed out: “We are on target to meet those estimates, but believe it is prudent to take a conservative approach early in the year and ramp up the dividend as the economic recovery strengthens and operating results improve.”