Marriott International Hotel and Timesahre Preview Earnings

NEW YORK (AP) - Marriott International Inc., the world's largest hotel company by revenue, reports earnings for the fiscal second quarter on Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: Marriott, which owns brands including Ritz-Carlton, Residence Inns and Renaissance Hotels, sold its 50 percent interest in its joint venture with British leisure group Whitbread PLC in April. The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC acquired the joint venture in a deal worth $1.7 billion including the assumption of its working capital. Marriott received about $178.6 million for its share of the proceeds and will continue to manage the hotels as part of agreements reached at the time of the sale.

EXPECTATIONS: Marriott's synthetic fuel business, a tax credit program, has boosted the company's earnings by millions of dollars in recent quarters. But a jump in oil prices, which leads to phase outs of the credits, prompted Marriott to close down its four synthetic fuel plants and remove it from company forecasts. Without synthetic fuel, Marriott expects second-quarter earnings of 76 cents to 81 cents per share, including the timeshare accounting change. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial are looking for earnings of 40 cents per share, which includes a 3-cent per share expense. Revenue is seen at $2.81 billion.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: Marriott shares rose 4.6 percent during the quarter and closed Monday at $37.52 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 12 percent for the year.

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Associated Press Business News: Earns Preview: Marriott International - MSN Money

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