CHICAGO (AP) _ Ventas Inc. (VTR) on Friday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Chicago, said it had funds from operations of $366.1 million, or 97 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 87 cents per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $473.1 million, or $1.26 per share.

The seniors housing real estate investment trust posted revenue of $1.01 billion in the period.

The company's shares have declined 53% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined 11%.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on VTR at https://www.zacks.com/ap/VTR

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News