Monthly Report

Deutsche Equity Income Trust PLC
28 January 2004

                          Deutsche Equity Income Trust

                     REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 2003


MARKET BACKGROUND

The UK equity market as measured by the FTSE All-Share Index rose by 2.8% in
capital terms over the month.  Our net asset value per share rose by 2.6% and
the share price by 1.1% over the same period as the shares moved from a modest
premium to a 1.4% discount to net asset value.

In contrast to the previous month, the market recovery was skewed towards large
capitalisation stocks.  The FTSE 100 Index rose by 3.1% in capital terms whereas
the FTSE Mid-250 and FTSE Small Cap Indices only rose by 1.6% and 1.1%
respectively.

On first inspection, market conditions looked favourable for equity income funds
with the FTSE 350 Higher Yield Index outperforming the FTSE 350 Lower Yield
Index by 1.3% in capital terms over the month.  However, this was almost
entirely due to the outperformance of Resources (Mining and Oil & Gas) which
make up a significant part of the FTSE 350 Higher Yield Index.  With the
dividend yield from many Mining shares below market levels, many income funds
have low holdings in this area and may have struggled to keep up with the rise
in the equity market.

The best performing sectors over the month were the 'cyclical' areas of Oil &
Gas, Mining and Construction & Building Materials. Some 'defensive' sectors such
as Food Producers, Utilities and Tobacco also performed well, helped by a
recovery in bond markets.  The worst performing sector over the month was once
again Steel & Other Metals, but of more importance to the overall equity market
was the continued underperformance of Pharmaceuticals & Biotech (partly due to
further weakness of the US$).

Key transactions during the month included a partial switch out of BP into
Shell.  We believe that Shell offers more significant upside at current levels,
including a higher dividend yield.  Holdings were also sold in BSkyB and
National Grid Transco, and holdings increased in BAA and Northern Rock.  A new
holding was established in Wolseley, one of the world's leading distributors of
building materials and plumbing supplies.

Towards the end of December we used our gearing facility to borrow £2.5 million,
and plan to implement further borrowings to £5 million when appropriate.

OUTLOOK

Investor sentiment has continued to improve from very depressed levels, helped
by more favourable economic indicators and corporate newsflow.  However, the
continued strength of the oil price (which, if sustained, will curtail any
economic recovery) and weakness of the US$ (which will impact reported profits,
cash generation and, most importantly, dividends to UK shareholders) remain
significant concerns.

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.

                                                                              31/12/03           30/11/03
NET ASSET VALUE                                                                 229.6p             223.8p

MID-MARKET SHARE PRICE                                                        31/12/03           30/11/03
Ordinary Shares                                                                 226.5p             224.0p
Dividend Yield (%)                                                                 3.5                3.6
Discount/(Premium) (%)                                                             1.4              (0.1)


LARGEST HOLDINGS (market value £65.9 million equal to 70.7% of total portfolio)

                                                                           £'000's      % of portfolio
HSBC Holdings                                                                7,630        8.2

GlaxoSmithKline                                                              5,504        5.9

BP                                                                           5,356        5.7

Shell Transport and Trading                                                  4,886        5.2

Vodafone Group                                                               3,997        4.3

AstraZeneca                                                                  3,937        4.2

Royal Bank of Scotland                                                       3,482        3.7

Barclays                                                                     3,290        3.5

Scottish & Southern Energy                                                   2,795        3.0

BT Group                                                                     2,690        2.9

Tate & Lyle                                                                  2,346        2.5

Northern Rock                                                                2,100        2.3

BAA                                                                          1,933        2.1

Imperial Tobacco                                                             1,846        2.0

Lloyds TSB Group                                                             1,795        1.9

Gallaher                                                                     1,701        1.8

Morrison (W) Supermarkets                                                    1,408        1.5

Viridian Group                                                               1,357        1.5

GUS                                                                          1,287        1.4

BPB                                                                          1,277        1.4

Associated British Foods                                                     1,105        1.2

Provident Financial                                                          1,092        1.2

Bunzl                                                                        1,070        1.1

HBOS                                                                         1,040        1.1

MMO2                                                                         1,004        1.1


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.


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