Marriott Sees Business Travel Slowdown

Marriott International Inc., the biggest U.S. hotel company, said it expects to see fewer business travelers this month because of last year’s concern about the Y2K computer problem. The business travel slowdown is expected to hurt profit in its first fiscal quarter ending in March, analysts said. Analysts have lowered their estimates of Marriott’s profit over the last month. Some businesses chose not to have their employees travel in the first few weeks of January in case computer systems failed, Marriott spokeswoman Laura Paugh said. Other major hotel operators also were affected, though not as badly as Marriott, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Denise Wilder Warren said. Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott is now expected to earn 39 cents a share in its first quarter, the average estimate of six analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. That’s 4 cents less than the estimate 30 days ago. Marriott’s hotels include the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Courtyard by Marriott chains. Marriott shares rose 50 cents to finish at $30.81 on the NYSE.