DENVER (AP) _ Apartment Investment and Management Co. (AIV) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The Denver-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $99.7 million, or 67 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 66 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 $6.7 million, or 4 cents per share.

The real estate investment trust posted revenue of $224.6 million in the period, falling short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $227.9 million.

The company's shares have dropped 28% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined 11%. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $37.14, a fall of 24% 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 AIV at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AIV

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News