May 2 (Reuters) - Regency Centers ( REG ) beat market

expectations for first-quarter funds from operations (FFO) on

Thursday, helped by strong leasing demand at its

grocery-anchored shopping centers.

Demand for rental spaces of commercial real estate

investment trusts (REIT) held, as their tenants benefited from

consumers spending on daily essentials and groceries.

Peers Federal Realty Trust and Kimco ( KIM ) also

saw steady traffic at their shopping centers.

As per data from Placer.ai, visits at open-air shopping

centers rose to 1.6% in March, compared with a decline of 3.9%

last year.

Regency also raised its annual FFO forecast. It now expects

National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit)

FFO per share to be in the range of $4.15 to $4.21, compared

with the prior forecast of between $4.14 and $4.20 per share.

The company reported FFO of $1.08 per share in the quarter

ended March 31, compared with analysts' average estimates of

$1.03 per share, according to LSEG data.

Regency Centers' ( REG ) portfolio includes over 400 properties,

which are rented by grocers like Kroger ( KR ), Amazon's ( AMZN )

Whole Foods, as well as retailers like TJX and

Target ( TGT ), among others.

Shares of the company were up about 2% in trading after the

bell.