Starwood Withdraws Earnings Guidance

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., White Plains, N.Y., has withdrawn its earnings guidance for the first quarter and the year, citing the effects of Iraq-related developments since January.The company said it is "well positioned for an economic recovery" but that it will suspend giving earnings guidance until it can "more accurately predict the business impact of the war and the impact and timing of an economic recovery." Starwood said that, when it offered earnings guidance in January, it "could not have anticipated the significant deterioration in business due to the elongated Iraq negotiations and the related geopolitical conditions that worsened over the quarter and culminated recently in armed conflict." The company can be found online at http://www.starwood.com.