UPDATE 1-Equity Residential fourth-quarter FFO rises

* Fourth-quarter FFO 43 cents/shr vs Wall St's 44 cents

* Sees first-quarter FFO 48-52 cents/shr

* Stock closed down 2.94 pct

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Equity Residential (EQR.N), 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) 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.

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. (Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)