Starwood Profit Declines as Legal Settlement Isn’t Repeated | businessweek.com

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., owner of the luxury St. Regis and W brands, said fourth- quarter profit dropped after a cash payment from a lawsuit settlement boosted year-earlier earnings. Net income fell to $167 million, or 85 cents a share, from $339 million, or $1.78, a year earlier, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company said in a statement today. The year- earlier results included $75 million from the settlement.