
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (AP) - Wyndham Worldwide Corp. said Wednesday that its profit fell in the third quarter as it spent less money on its timeshare business and continued to deal with travelers' spending less.
Earnings dropped 27 percent to $104 million, or 57 cents per share, compared with $142 million, or 80 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding legacy items, earnings were 58 cents per share, topping analysts profit prediction of 56 cents per share.
Revenue declined 17 percent, to $1.02 billion from $1.23 billion as Wyndham cut the amount of capital the company was putting toward its timeshare business. The hotel operator also blamed the strengthening dollar and stubborn softness in the lodging sector for its weak results.
The company's gross timeshare sales dropped 35 percent to $366 million as Wyndham cut back on money spent on the operations, including closing some sales offices and trimming back on marketing efforts which led to fewer tours.
Revenue for Wyndham Exchange and Rentals, formerly Group RCI, fell 8 percent to $327 million, while revenue for the Wyndham Hotel Group slipped 14 percent to $183 million.
The lodging sector has struggled as travelers scale back on their plans, including taking shorter vacations and holding off on timeshare purchases.
Wyndham said it anticipates a profit before items of 35 cents to 38 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, believe it will earn 32 cents per share. Wyndham maintained its forecast for 2009 revenue of $3.5 billion to $3.9 billion.
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