Investor Relations

Press Release

Equity Residential Declares First Quarter Dividends

Company Release - 3/11/2011

Sets Record and Meeting Dates for 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) today announced that the company declared dividends on its common and preferred shares.

New Dividend Policy

On December 9, 2010, the company announced its new dividend policy which will generate payouts closely aligned with the actual annual operating results of the company’s core business and provide more transparency to investors. Pursuant to this policy, the company intends to pay an annual cash dividend equal to approximately 65% of Normalized FFO. Normalized FFO begins with FFO and then eliminates certain items that by their nature are not comparable from period to period or that tend to obscure the company’s actual operating performance. For more information on Normalized FFO, please see the company’s fourth quarter 2010 earnings release dated February 2, 2011.

The company intends to pay $0.3375 per share for each of the first three quarters of the year. For the fourth quarter, the company intends to pay a dividend that will bring the total payment for the year to approximately 65% of Normalized FFO. All future dividends remain subject to the discretion of the company’s Board of Trustees.

First Quarter Dividends

A quarterly common share dividend of $0.3375 per share will be paid on April 8, 2011 to shareholders of record on March 21, 2011.

The following regular quarterly dividends will be paid on the company’s preferred/depositary shares:

Series

   

Record Date

   

Payment Date

   

Amount/Share

K March 21, 2011 March 31, 2011 $1.03625
N March 21, 2011 April 15, 2011 $0.405
 

2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

In addition, the company declared that its Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. in Chicago, Illinois. Shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2011 will be entitled to vote at the meeting.

Equity Residential is an S&P 500 company focused on the acquisition, development and management of high quality apartment properties in top U.S. growth markets. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 452 properties totaling 129,829 apartment units. For more information on Equity Residential, please visit our website at www.equityapartments.com.

Source: Equity Residential

Contact:

Equity Residential

Marty McKenna

(312) 928-1901