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

The Santa Monica, California-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $123.5 million, or 82 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 81 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 $33.6 million, or 24 cents per share.

The shopping center real estate investment trust posted revenue of $236.7 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $212.4 million, which missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $214.8 million.

Macerich expects full-year funds from operations to be $3.92 to $4.02 per share.

The company's shares have dropped 12 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has dropped slightly more than 1 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $57.57, a decline of 11 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 MAC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MAC