Net earnings for this third quarter were $22.5 million, or 74 cents per share diluted, compared with $30.3 million, or $1.01 per share diluted, for the 2003 period. For the nine months ended Aug. 31, the company had net earnings of $98.5 million, or $3.24 per share diluted, compared with $89.9 million, or $2.91 per share diluted, for that period last year.

Jeffrey P. Krasnoff, president and CEO of LNR, notes: "While last year's results included a significant gain on the sale of CMBS through a large resecuritization transaction, we did not have a similar transaction in the current period. Taking into account the asset sales that we have completed so far this year, the timing of those sales we expect to complete for the rest of the year and the investments that we either have in place or in the pipeline, our earnings-per-share goals for 2004 remain in the range of $3.70 to $3.90."

He adds, "Our pipeline of new investments where we look to create value…remains strong." The company has more than $1.2 billion in assets closed or in the pipeline year-to-date in the US and Europe.