SAN DIEGO (AP) _ American Assets Trust Inc. (AAT) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations.

The San Diego-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $32.5 million, or 51 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 50 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 $453,000, or 1 cent per share.

The real estate investment trust posted revenue of $80.7 million in the period.

American Assets Trust expects full-year funds from operations to be $2.01 to $2.09 per share.

The company's shares have dropped 11 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $33.98, a drop of 21 percent in the last 12 months.

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