BETHESDA, Md. » Hotel company Marriott International Inc. said yesterday its third-quarter profit dropped 28 percent, compared to 2007, and it warned investors about deteriorating conditions for 2009 amid the ongoing financial crisis.

The company said reduced airlift to Hawaii from the mainland have “;constrained performance”; of its two newest projects in the market and that permitting delays have deferred closing of some residential sales. Marriott also said Las Vegas and Palm Springs, Calif., also felt the effect of reduced airlift.

Marriott said its revenue per available room declined in North America, and timeshare sales dried up amid the tight credit market and cutbacks in business and consumer spending. Revenue per available room, or revpar, is considered a key gauge of a hotelier's performance.

Marriott is the first major hotel company to report third-quarter earnings. Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Jake Fuller said the company's gloomy projections “;set a bad tone for the group.”;

In a sober conference call with investors, Chief Financial Officer Arne Sorenson argued that Congress should pass a financial bailout package:

“;There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of jobs at stake in our company alone, and we are typical,”; he said. And it is crucial “;that the plan be big and enacted very, very soon.”;

Marriott's earnings projections came in well below analysts' expectations at 44 cents to 50 cents a share, compared to the consensus forecast of 63 cents. The company lowered its full-year 2008 earnings guidance to $1.62 to $1.68 a share, from its previous guidance of $1.77 to $1.88 per share. Analysts had forecast 2008 profit of $1.78 per share.

Sorenson said Marriott has a cushion under its $2.4 billion revolver, which is effective until 2012, to keep it comfortable until liquidity returns to the marketplace.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 5, net income slipped to $94 million, or 26 cents a share, from $131 million, or 33 cents, a year ago. Excluding a $29 million tax planning charge, the company's adjusted income from continuing operations totaled $123 million, or 34 cents a share.

Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott said revenue rose 1 percent to $2.96 billion from $2.94 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of 32 cents per share on revenue of $2.95 billion.