Monthly Report

Deutsche Equity Income Trust PLC
17 March 2004

                          Deutsche Equity Income Trust

                     REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2004

MARKET BACKGROUND

The UK equity market as measured by the FTSE All-Share Index rose by 2.6% in
capital terms over the month.  Once again, most of the rise occurred in mid- and
small-cap stocks (with the FTSE Mid-250 Index up 4.1% and the FTSE Small Cap
Index up 3.0% in capital terms) whereas large-cap stocks continued to lag (the
FTSE 100 Index rose by just 2.3% in capital terms).

Our investment performance during the month was good.  Our net asset value per
share rose by 3.6%, 1.0% ahead of the FTSE All-Share Index.  It was also a
generally good period for equity income investors as the FTSE 350 Higher Yield
Index outperformed the Lower Yield Index by 0.7% over the month.

Our share price performance during the month was disappointing.  The share price
was unchanged, moving from a 0.5% premium to a 2.9% discount to net asset value
per share.

The best performing sectors over the month were Aerospace & Defence, Steel &
Other Metals, Personal Care & Household Products, Real Estate and Tobacco.  The
share price of our holding in MMO2 was particularly strong due to renewed bid
speculation from KPN.

The worst performing sectors over the month were Pharmaceuticals & Biotech,
Telecom Services, IT Harware, Software & Computer Services and Electronic &
Electrical Equipment.  However, some of the worst performing stocks were Abbey
National and Bradford & Bingley following disappointing updates.

Key transactions during the period included adding to existing holdings in GUS,
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets and Gallaher.  A new holding was also established in
GKN following recent underperformance.  Holdings were significantly reduced in
BAA, and sold in both Marks & Spencer and Sage Group.

GEARING

We increased borrowings to £4.5m during the month and we currently intend to
retain this level.

OUTLOOK

Despite recent terrorist attrocities, investor sentiment continues to be strong
due to generally favourable corporate newsflow and improving economic
indicators.  The recent bounce in the US$ from previously oversold levels is
also helpful to the translation of profits, cash flow and dividends from
multi-national companies for sterling-based investors.

Our investment philosophy remains unchanged: we use cash flow return on
investment (CFROI) rather than earnings per share as the principal tool to
analyse and value companies, and construct the portfolio using the most
attractive stocks in each sector.  Combined with our commitment to achieve a
respectable level of income, we are confident that this philosophy will continue
to reward shareholders over the longer-term.


                                                                              29/02/04           31/01/04
                                                                                234.9p             226.8p
NET ASSET VALUE

MID-MARKET SHARE PRICE                                                        29/02/04           31/01/04
Ordinary Shares                                                                 228.0p             228.0p
Dividend Yield (%)                                                                 3.5                3.5
Discount/(Premium) (%)                                                             2.9              (0.5)

Gearing (%)*                                                                       4.8                3.9

*Based on total assets of £97.9 million (£93.7 million


LARGEST HOLDINGS (market value £68.6 million equal to 70.1% of total portfolio)

                                                                      £'000's      % of portfolio
HSBC Holdings                                                                7,608        7.8
BP                                                                           5,061        5.2
GlaxoSmithKline                                                              4,820        4.9
Royal Bank of Scotland                                                       4,576        4.7
Shell Transport and Trading                                                  4,510        4.6
AstraZeneca                                                                  4,178        4.3
Vodafone Group                                                               3,875        3.9
Barclays                                                                     3,245        3.3
Scottish & Southern Energy                                                   2,948        3.0
Gallaher                                                                     2,313        2.4
Northern Rock                                                                2,279        2.3
Morrison (W) Supermarkets                                                    2,264        2.3
Tate & Lyle                                                                  2,177        2.2
BT Group                                                                     1,978        2.0
GUS                                                                          1,962        2.0
Imperial Tobacco                                                             1,945        2.0
Lloyds TSB Group                                                             1,794        1.8
Bunzl                                                                        1,653        1.7
Viridian Group                                                               1,476        1.5
Wolseley                                                                     1,433        1.5
MMO2                                                                         1,382        1.4
BPB                                                                          1,369        1.4
BAA                                                                          1,353        1.4
Vardy                                                                        1,270        1.3
Provident Financial                                                          1,144        1.2




FINANCIAL CALENDAR

Half-year end
                                31 March 2004



For further information, contact Graham Ashby at Deutsche Asset Management on
020-7545-6000.



For additional copies, changes of address or details of our Private Investors'
Plan, low cost ISA and Dividend Reinvestment Plan (a plan through which
shareholders, who hold their shares on the Company's main register, can use
their dividends to purchase further shares) contact Mark Pope on 020-7545-0520,
e-mail address: [e-mail].  Further details of Deutsche Equity Income
Trust including the latest annual, interim and monthly reports can be found on
the Deutsche Investment Trust Managers website located at
www.deutsche-its.co.uk.



Issued and approved by Deutsche Investment Trust Managers Limited, One Appold
Street, London EC2A 2UU, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services
Authority and manager of Deutsche Equity Income Trust PLC.  Investors should
note that the price of shares and the income from them can go down as well as up
and are not guaranteed and investors may not get back the amount they invested.
The use of gearing is likely to lead to volatility in the Net Asset Value (NAV),
meaning that a relatively small movement either down or up in the value of the
Trust's total assets will result in a magnified movement in the same direction
of that NAV.  In extreme circumstances, investors may get nothing back at all if
the fall in value is sufficiently large.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange