NORTH BETHESDA, Md. (AP) _ Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The North Bethesda, Maryland-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $87 million, or $1.14 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $1.07 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 $92.7 million, or $1.22 per share.

The real estate investment trust posted revenue of $219.5 million in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $208.9 million.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $345 million, or $4.52 per share. Revenue was reported as $835.5 million.

The company's shares have climbed 15% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $97.99, a decline of 21% 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 FRT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FRT

Copyright by Automated Insights, Inc. All rights reserved., source Associated Press News