For the first six months, net earnings were $13.9 million or 45 cents per diluted share versus $15.6 million or 47 cents per diluted share last year.

econd-quarter earnings were better. Net earnings per diluted share increased 30% to 26 cents from 20 cents in the same 2000 period. Net earnings rose 26% to $7.9 million, including a $2.5 million gain on the sale of four assets. That performance compared with $6.2 million for the same period a year ago.

FFO was unchanged for the quarter but down for the half. FFO per fully diluted share was 31 cents in both the first and second periods. Total funds from operations were $10.2 million versus $10.6 million in the prior-year period. FFO per fully diluted share increased 1.6% to 63 cents from 62 cents in 2000.

In the first six months, total fully diluted FFO was $20.8 million versus $21.6 million in the prior-year period.

Thomas H. McAuley, IRT's chairman/CEO, sees better days ahead. "Although asset sales have led to some dilution in earnings and revenue growth, they have allowed us to fund new development opportunities," McAuley says in a prepared statement.

The company feels it is improving the quality of its portfolio by selling smaller, low-growth properties in tertiary markets and replacing them with new Publix-anchored developments in major markets.

For example, during the second quarter, IRT opened the 42,000-sf, second phase of Regency Square in metro Tampa, FL. The 85,864-sf center, anchored by Publix Supermarkets Inc., is 87% leased.

IRT plans to break ground in August on two other Publix-anchored centers--Conway Crossing in Orlando and Lutz Lake Crossing in Tampa. IRT's total development pipeline comprises seven projects valued at $67 million.

In asset sales, IRT closed on the the sale of 10 Old Phoenix Naitonal Bank branches in Medina County, OH for $3.5 million; Chadwick Square in Hendrsonville, NC, $2.4 million; Eden Center in Eden, NC, $3.5 million; and Ft. Walton Plaza in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, $1.6 million. The firm's aggregate second-quarter gain was $2.5 million.

Due to the timing of anchor leasing activity and a slower national acquisitions environment, IRT is revising its FFO projection for 2001 to a range of $1.25 to $1.28 per share. The company's portfolio comprises 90 shopping cents totaling 9.7 million sf.