BETHESDA, Md. (AP) _ RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ) on Wednesday reported a loss in funds from operations in its first quarter, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said it had a funds from operations loss of $29.8 million, or 18 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a funds from operations loss of 26 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 $84.3 million, or 51 cents per share.

The hotel real estate investment trust posted revenue of $119.6 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $110.2 million.

The company’s shares have increased 12% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $15.84, an increase of 93% in the last 12 months.

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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 RLJ at https://www.zacks.com/ap/RLJ