SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — The Macerich Co. (MAC) on Wednesday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Santa Monica, California, said it had funds from operations of $92.4 million, or 34 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 31 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 $36.4 million, or 14 cents per share.

The shopping center real estate investment trust, based in Santa Monica, California, posted revenue of $241.5 million in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $238.7 million.

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