Dow Jones and 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, the nation’s largest hotel company, reported higher earnings but warned that growth will slow in 1999 because of a hotel building boom and increased competition.

Dow Jones, the 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. 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 overall advertising lineage in the Journal was down 10% in the third quarter from a year ago. Barron’s national advertising pages were down 11%.

Shares of Dow Jones, which gave the warning after the market closed, fell $2.81 to $43.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.

At Marriott, earnings 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 shares fell $2 to $21.88 on the NYSE.

Also Thursday, telecom equipment firm Scientific Atlanta projected quarterly results 70% below expectations. Its shares eased 75 cents to $20.38 on the NYSE before the news.