HCP Inc., a Long Beach real estate investment trust, on Tuesday raised its guidance for this year, in part because of gains from early repayment of debt. It also entered into a $1.5 billion unsecured credit facility.

HCP, which owns a variety of healthcare facilities, said it now expects funds from operations of $2.49 to $2.55 per share in 2011, compared with an earlier estimate of $2.45 to $2.51. Funds from operations is an important REIT metric that adds depreciation and amortization expenses back into earnings to get a better picture of cash performance.

Excluding one-time items, HCP expects $2.62 to $2.68 per share in adjusted FFO. The Wall Street consensus had been for HCP to report adjusted FFO of $2.55 per share.

The company now expects to see a gain from the early repayment of its debt investments in Genesis Corp., which is expected to boost FFO by a total of 9 cents per share. It also expects a gain of 4 cents per share from its use of these repayment proceeds. But the gain is offset by some loss of interest from those loans.

The new $1.5 billion unsecured credit facility, which replaces a facility that would have expired in August, increases the REIT’s borrowing capacity by $500 million.

Shares were down 26 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $37.48 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.