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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide more than doubled its earnings for the first quarter.

The company is optimistic about the rest of the year and next year as well.

Steven J. Heyer, CEO, said: "For ten quarters in a row our market share has been improving, even as we took the opportunity to renovate key hotels this quarter, including another 500 rooms and all of the ballroom and group meeting spaces at the Sheraton New York. We are moving full speed ahead with our brand-building efforts and service innovation, which I believe will lead to further share gains in coming years. I'm excited about the progress we're making, the opportunity to take our expertise to other price points and brands and the additional talent we've brought in to lead these initiatives."

Starwood reported EPS from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2005 of $0.36 compared to $0.16 in the first quarter of 2004. Excluding special items, primarily related to a $2 million state tax refund, EPS from continuing operations was $0.35 for the first quarter of 2005 compared to $0.16 in the first quarter of 2004.

According to a press release, income from continuing operations was $79 million in the first quarter of 2005 compared to $33 million in 2004. Excluding special items, income from continuing operations was $77 million for the first quarter of 2005 compared to $33 million in 2004. Net income (after discontinued operations) was $79 million and EPS was $0.36 in the first quarter of 2005 compared to $34 million and EPS of $0.16 in the first quarter of 2004. The effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2005 was 21.3%. The tax rate and thereby income from continuing operations benefited from a state tax refund of $2 million during the quarter related to tax years prior to the 1995 split-up of ITT Corporation.

"We're also focused on assets sales where that makes sense and we expect to be able to announce some developments on that front in the second or third quarter," said Heyer.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.