BETHESDA, Md. (AP) _ Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST) on Wednesday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said it had funds from operations of $292 million, or 41 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 40 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 $80 million, or 11 cents per share.

The lodging real estate investment trust posted revenue of $1.33 billion in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.32 billion.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $1.3 billion, or $1.78 per share. Revenue was reported as $5.47 billion.

Host Hotels expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $1.65 to $1.71 per share.

The company's shares have fallen roughly 10% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen roughly 5%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $16.72, a decrease of roughly 10% 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 HST at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HST

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News