SAN DIEGO (AP) _ American Assets Trust Inc. (AAT) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The San Diego-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $40.8 million, or 54 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 47 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 $8.1 million, or 14 cents per share.

The real estate investment trust, based in San Diego, posted revenue of $101.7 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $152.3 million, or $2 per share. Revenue was reported as $375.8 million.

American Assets Trust expects full-year funds from operations to be $2.09 to $2.17 per share.

The company's shares have dropped 6.5% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $35.10, a rise of 20% in the last 12 months.

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

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