NEW YORK (AP) _ Brixmor Property Group Inc. (BRX) on Monday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations.

The New York-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $145.4 million, or 49 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of eight 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 $79.5 million, or 26 cents per share.

The owner and operator of shopping centers posted revenue of $298.6 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $292.3 million.

Brixmor expects full-year funds from operations to be $1.88 to $1.95 per share.

The company's shares have decreased almost 2% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $24.93, a rise of 12% 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 BRX at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BRX

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