CHICAGO (AP) _ Ventas Inc. (VTR) on Friday reported a key measure of profitability in its second quarter. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The Chicago-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $288.3 million, or 77 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 73 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 a loss of $157.2 million, or 42 cents per share.

The seniors housing real estate investment trust posted revenue of $943.2 million in the period.

The company's shares have decreased 32% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen nearly 4%.

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

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News