DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (WYN) second-quarter earnings fell 28% as a leisure and business travel slump continued to take a toll on the company's hotel and timeshare businesses.

Hoteliers are struggling through a sharp industry downturn. Major chains - including Marriott International Inc. (MAR), Host Hotel & Resorts Inc. (HST) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) - recently reported second-quarter revenue-per-available-room figures that were down as much as a third from the prior-year period.

Timeshare operators have found lower demand and more difficulty financing sales, leading some to trim operations. Wyndham, which owns 150 resorts globally and counts 830,000 time-share owners, expects time-share sales down 40% this year to $1.2 billion - they dropped 39% in the second quarter. Last year, the business provided 53% of revenue.

The operator of the Ramada, Howard Johnson and Days Inn hotel chains reported profit of $71 million, or 39 cents a share, down from $98 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring and other impacts, earnings fell to 41 cents from 53 cents. Wyndham was expecting 36 cents to 41 cents.

Revenue decreased 19% to $920 million on the time-share woes and currency impacts. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently were looking for $917 million.

At Wyndham's lodging business, total revenue per available room on a constant-dollar basis fell 15%, dropping 14% in the U.S. and 18% internationally.

For the third quarter, the company expects earnings of 53 cents to 57 cents, while analysts were looking for 57 cents. The company reaffirmed its 2009 earnings forecasts.

Shares closed at $12.67 on Tuesday and didn't trade premarket. The stock is down roughly 40% in the past 11 months, though it has quintupled from an all-time low of $2.55 in November.

-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; tess.stynes@dowjones.com