unable to send email if i add <br> tag

I am trying to send an email using asp.net 1.1
My web form has a textarea field, which allows typing address using the 'enter' key for line feed.
In the code behind, i am replacing chr(13) with "<BR>". The code is as below:
pstrEmailBody = pstrEmailBody & "<td>" & Replace(txaAddress.Value, Chr(13), "<br>") & "</td>"

when i see the contents of pstrEmailBody in the immediate window, i see the breaks correctly. i also copied the output into an HTML file, and it is perfect. However, when sending out the email, i get the above error. If i remove the replace part, then the email goes correctly, but the address comes on a single line in the email.

I have also attached the email function. see below:

Public Sub SendMail(ByVal EmailBody As String, ByVal FirstName As String, ByVal LastName As String)
        Dim objMail As Mail.MailMessage
        Dim objSMTPMail As SmtpMail
        Dim pstrError

        Try
            objMail = New Mail.MailMessage
            objMail.From = "riaz@sanginfo.com"
            objMail.To = "riaz@sanginfo.com"
            objMail.BodyFormat = MailFormat.Html
            objMail.Body = EmailBody
            objMail.Subject = "New Tutor Application - " & FirstName & " " & LastName
            objSMTPMail.SmtpServer = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings.Item("SMTPMailServer")
            objSMTPMail.Send(objMail)
        Catch ex As Exception
            pstrError = ex.ToString()
        Finally
            If Not objSMTPMail Is Nothing Then objSMTPMail = Nothing
            If Not objMail Is Nothing Then objMail = Nothing
        End Try
    End Sub