Corporate earnings:

American Campus reports revenue, profitability up.

Austin-based American Campus Communities continued its strong financial performance in the first quarter, reporting revenue and profitability numbers Monday that topped Wall Street expectations.

American Campus, a real estate investment trust, is one of the nation’s largest owners and managers of student housing properties.

For the quarter ended March 31, said it had funds from operations of $76.1 million, or 67 cents per share. Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the real estate investment trust industry.

Funds from operations takes into account net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The 67 cents per share matched the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research, and topped the 66 cents per share estimate of analysts surveyed by StreetInsider.com.

The company said it had net income of $70.2 million, or 62 cents per share.

American Campus also reported revenue of $192.5 million for the quarter. That

was up 5.1 percent from revenue of $183.2 million in the same quarter in 2014, and well above analysts’ estimates of $184.4 million, according to StreetInsider.com.

The company on Monday also said it is holding to its earlier guidance for full-year funds from operations of $2.33 to $2.45 per share.

American Campus said its revenue and earnings performance was “primarily due to growth resulting from property acquisitions, recently completed development properties, increased occupancy and increased rental rates for the 2014-2015 academic year.”

As of the end of the first quarter, American Campus owned 164 student housing properties containing about 100,000 beds, the company said. Counting properties owned by other parties, American Campus owns or manages 203 properties with 130,000 beds, the company said.

American Campus’ shares closed Monday at $42.35, up 14 cents, or less than 1 percent. The company’s shares have increased about 2 percent since the beginning of the year.

“Our continued focus on creating operational efficiencies resulted in solid (net operating income) growth this quarter,” American Campus CEO Bill Bayless said in a written statement.

“Additionally, we are excited about the quality external growth opportunities before us ... and further expansion of our development pipeline.”