Starwood Hotels & Resorts Q2 Profit Beats Street; Updates FY13 EPS View

(RTTNews) - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (HOT) posted higher second-quarter 2013 net income attributable to the company of $137 million, or $0.71 per share, compared with $122 million, or $0.62 per share, a year before. Income from continuing operations was $137 million, versus $129 million in the 2012 second quarter.

Special items in the recent period, which totaled a charge of $16 million, mainly related to certain non-recurring income tax charges associated with an asset disposition, interest on deferred income from sales of vacation ownership units, and the resolution of certain tax positions, the firm added.

Excluding special items, income from continuing operations totaled $153 million, or $0.79 per share for the recent quarter. On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.73 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

However, the company clocked $1.56 billion of revenues in the quarter, down 3.5% from the prior year's $1.62 billion. Analysts estimated revenues of $1.56 billion for the quarter.

Looking ahead, including Bal Harbour, third-quarter earnings per share is expected to be about $0.60 - $0.64, whereas 27 analysts project earnings of $0.62 per share for the same period.

For 2013, earnings per share before items, including Bal Harbour, are now expected to be about $2.81 - $2.88. Analysts project full-year earnings of $2.81 per share.