Starwood Quarterly Profit Nearly Doubles

Starwood Lodging Trust’s third-quarter earnings almost doubled on hotel acquisitions and higher room rates, which bodes well for its planned $13.3-billion purchase of ITT Corp., analysts said. Funds from operations--a key measure of a real estate investment trust’s finances--rose 93% to $48.8 million, or 80 cents a share, from $25.3 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier. The results beat the average estimate of 73 cents a share of eight analysts polled by First Call Corp. Starwood’s shares rose 81 cents to close at $60.38 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock, which has more than doubled in the last year, earlier reached a record $61.50.