Dow Jones, Marriott Issue Profit Warnings

Dow Jones & Co. warned Thursday that third-quarter earnings will fall short of expectations because of unanticipated weakness in advertising during the last half of September.

Meanwhile, Marriott International Inc., the nation’s largest hotel company, said its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 16%, but it warned that earnings growth will slow next year because of a hotel building boom and increased competition.

Earnings-per-share growth will slow to the mid-teens from 20%, Marriott Chief Financial Officer Arne Sorenson said in a conference call. The Bethesda, Md.-based company said it had net income of $86 million, or 32 cents a diluted share, in the quarter ended Sept. 11, up from $74 million, or 27 cents, a year ago, in line with expectations.

Marriott’s shares fell $2 to close at $21.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Dow Jones, the New York-based publisher of the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, expects to report earnings of 35 cents to 37 cents a diluted share in its fiscal third quarter. It was expected to earn 39 cents a share.

The expected earnings are before a charge of about $9 million taken in connection with staff reductions at several smaller newspapers.

Preliminary figures show that general advertising in the quarter was down about 10% from a year ago.

Shares of Dow Jones, which announced the earnings warning after the market closed, fell $2.81 to close at $43.69 on the NYSE.