BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) _ SBA Communications Corp. (SBAC) on Monday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results topped Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Boca Raton, Florida, said it had funds from operations of $310.8 million, or $2.81 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.79 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 $48.9 million, or 44 cents per share.

The communications tower operator, based in Boca Raton, Florida, posted revenue of $595.3 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $591.9 million.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $1.19 billion. Revenue was reported as $2.31 billion.

SBA Communications expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $11.48 to $11.85 per share, with revenue in the range of $2.43 billion to $2.47 billion.

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

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