Marriott’s Forth-Quarter Profits Dipped

Lower results from its scaled back synthetic fuel business contributed to a 7 percent drop in fourth-quarter income for hotel operator Marriott International Inc., but the company’s earnings still surpassed Wall Street expectations.

Bethesda-based Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain by revenue, reported net income Thursday of $220 million, or 52 cents per share, for the 16-week fourth quarter, down from $237 million, or 54 cents per share during the same period of 2005.

Much of the decline came from Marriott’s synthetic fuel business, an energy tax credit program the company curtailed after a steep rise in oil prices last year. The program added only $1 million to income in the fourth quarter. In the year-ago period, synthetic fuel contributed $33 million, or 7 cents per share.

Adjusted earnings, which exclude synthetic fuel, totaled $219 million, or 52 cents per share, compared with $204 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier.