Operating Income (Loss)

2011 Compared to 2010

Operating income decreased by $169 million to $526 million in 2011 from $695 million in 2010. The decrease reflected Timeshare strategy-impairment charges of $324 million recorded in 2011 and $40 million of lower Timeshare sales and services revenue net of direct expenses, partially offset by a $105 million increase in base management and franchise fees, $49 million of higher owned, leased, corporate housing, and other revenue net of direct expenses, a $28 million decrease in general, administrative, and other expenses, and $13 million of higher incentive management fees. We address the reasons for the increases in base management and franchise fees and in incentive management fees as compared to 2010 in the preceding “Revenues” section.

The $49 million (54 percent) increase in owned, leased, corporate housing, and other revenue net of direct expenses was primarily attributable to $21 million of higher branding fees, $15 million of net stronger results at some owned and leased properties due to higher RevPAR and property-level margins, $6 million of higher hotel agreement termination fees, net of 2010 termination costs, $6 million of higher corporate housing and other revenue, net of expenses, and $5 million of decreased rent expense, partially offset by $4 million of lower results at a leased hotel in Japan that experienced lower demand as a result of the earthquake and tsunami earlier in the year.

General, administrative, and other expenses decreased by $28 million (4 percent) to $752 million in 2011 from $780 million in 2010. The decrease primarily reflected favorable variances from the following items recorded in 2010: an $84 million long-lived asset impairment charge associated with a capitalized revenue management software asset (which we did not allocate to any of our segments); a $13 million long-lived asset impairment charge (allocated to our former Timeshare segment); and a $14 million long-lived asset impairment charge (allocated to our North American Limited-Service segment). Also contributing to the decrease in expenses, was $9 million of lower former Timeshare segment expenses due to the spin-off and a $5 million reversal in 2011 of a loan loss provision related to one property with increased expected future cash flows. These favorable variances were partially offset by the following items recorded in 2011: $34 million of transaction-related expenses associated with the spin-off of the timeshare business; $17 million of higher compensation costs; $10 million of increased other expenses primarily associated with higher costs in international markets and initiatives to enhance and grow our brands globally, a $5 million impairment of contract acquisition costs and a $5 million accounts receivable reserve, both related to one Luxury segment property whose owner filed for bankruptcy; a $5 million performance cure payment for a North American Full-Service property; and $7 million related to an increase in the guarantee reserves for one International and one North American Full-Service property, primarily due to cash flow shortfalls at the properties, and a $2 million write-off of contract acquisition costs associated with two other properties. Unfavorable variances from a $4 million reversal of excess accruals for net asset tax based on the receipt of final assessments from a taxing authority located outside the United States and a $6 million reversal of guarantee accruals, primarily related to a completion guarantee for which we satisfied the related requirements, both recorded in 2010, further offset the aforementioned favorable variances.

The $28 million decrease in total general, administrative, and other expenses consisted of a $34 million decrease that we did not allocate to any of our segments; a $22 million decrease allocated to our former Timeshare segment; and a $12 million decrease allocated to our North American Limited-Service segment; partially offset by a $20 million increase allocated to our Luxury segment; a $15 million increase allocated to our International segment; and a $5 million increase allocated to our North American Full-Service segment.

Timeshare sales and services revenue net of direct expenses totaled $159 million in 2011 and $199 million in 2010. The decrease of $40 million as compared to 2010, primarily reflected $28 million of lower other revenue, net of expenses and $25 million of lower financing revenue, net of expenses, partially offset by $8 million of higher development revenue net of product costs and marketing and selling costs and $5 million of higher services revenue, net of expenses. The $28 million decrease in other revenue, net of expenses primarily reflected a $15 million unfavorable variance from an adjustment to the Marriott Rewards liability in the prior year and, to a lesser extent in the current year reflected the impact of the spin-off as well as lower resales revenue, net of expenses due to lower closings. The $25 million decrease in financing revenue, net of expenses primarily reflected decreased interest income due to the spin-off as well as lower notes receivable balances prior to the spin-off date. Higher development revenue net of product costs and marketing and selling costs primarily reflected favorable reportability as well as a favorable variance from a net $12 million reserve in the prior year, partially offset by lower 2011 sales volumes as well as the impact of the spin-off. See “BUSINESS SEGMENTS: Timeshare,” later in this report for additional information on our former Timeshare segment prior to spin-off.

2010 Compared to 2009

Operating income increased by $847 million to operating income of $695 million in 2010 from an operating loss of $152 million in 2009. The increase in operating income reflected a favorable variance of $614 million related to Timeshare strategy-impairment charges recorded in 2009, $116 million of higher Timeshare sales and services revenue net of direct expenses, a $73 million increase in base management and franchise fees, a $51 million decrease in restructuring costs, $28 million of higher incentive management fees, and $23 million of higher owned, leased, corporate housing, and other revenue net of direct expenses, partially offset by a $58 million increase in general, administrative, and other expenses. We note the reasons for the increase of $73 million in base management and franchise fees as well as the increase of $28 million in incentive management fees as compared to 2009 in the preceding “Revenues” section.

Timeshare sales and services revenue net of direct expenses in 2010 totaled $199 million. The increase of $116 million as compared to 2009, primarily reflected $78 million of higher financing revenue, net of expenses, which largely reflected increased interest income associated with the impact of consolidating previously unconsolidated securitized notes under the new Transfers of Financial Assets and Consolidation standards, $33 million of higher development revenue net of product costs and marketing and selling costs, and $8 million of higher other revenue, net of expenses partially offset by $3 million of lower services revenue net of expenses. Higher development revenue net of product costs and marketing and selling costs primarily reflected both lower product costs due to lower sales volumes and lower marketing and selling costs in 2010, as well as favorable variances from both a $10 million charge related to an issue with a state tax authority and a net $3 million impact from contract cancellation allowances in 2009, partially offset by lower development revenue for the reasons stated in the preceding “Revenues” section. See “BUSINESS SEGMENTS: Timeshare,” later in this report for additional information on our former Timeshare segment prior to spin-off.

The $23 million (34 percent) increase in owned, leased, corporate housing, and other revenue net of direct expenses was primarily attributable to $12 million of higher hotel agreement termination fees net of property closing costs, $8 million of higher branding fees, a $4 million reversal of a liability related to a hotel that closed in 2010, and net stronger results at some owned and leased properties due to higher RevPAR and property-level margins, partially offset by additional rent expense associated with one property and an unfavorable variance from a one-time $6 million transaction cancellation fee received in 2009.

General, administrative, and other expenses increased by $58 million (8 percent) to $780 million in 2010 from $722 million in 2009. The increase primarily reflected the following 2010 charges: an $84 million long-lived asset impairment charge associated with a capitalized revenue management software asset (which we did not allocate to any of our segments); a $13 million long-lived asset impairment charge (allocated to our former Timeshare segment); and a $14 million long-lived asset impairment charge (allocated to our North American Limited-Service segment). See Footnote No. 7, “Property and Equipment,” of the Notes to our Financial Statements for additional information on these three impairment charges. In addition, we recorded a $4 million contract acquisition cost impairment charge (allocated to our North American Full-Service segment) in 2010. See the North American Full-Service segment discussion for additional information on this impairment charge. Also contributing to the year-over-year increase was $35 million of higher compensation costs, $14 million of increased other expenses primarily associated with initiatives to enhance our brands globally, $7 million of increased currency exchange losses, and $2 million of increased legal expenses. These unfavorable variances were partially offset by an $8 million reversal in 2010 of guarantee accruals, primarily related to a completion guarantee for which we satisfied the related requirements, and a $4 million reversal of excess accruals for net asset tax based on the receipt of final assessments from a taxing authority located outside the United States. In addition, the comparison reflects the following 2009 expenses that we did not incur in 2010: $49 million of impairment charges related to two security deposits that we deemed unrecoverable in 2009 due, in part, to our decision not to fund certain cash flow shortfalls, partially offset by an $11 million reversal of the 2008 accrual for the funding of those cash flow shortfalls; a $7 million write-off of Timeshare segment capitalized software costs; and $4 million of bad debt expense on an accounts receivable balance. The year-over-year comparison also reflected a $15 million favorable variance in deferred compensation expenses (with changes to our deferred compensation plan, general, administrative, and other expenses for 2010 had no deferred compensation impact, compared with $15 million of mark-to-market valuation expenses in 2009). The increase in general, administrative, and other expenses was also partially offset by the elimination of the loan loss provision in 2010, compared with a $43 million provision in 2009, which reflected $29 million associated with one Luxury segment project and $14 million associated with a North American Limited-Service segment portfolio.

The $58 million increase in total general, administrative, and other expenses was comprised of: a $77 million increase that we did not allocate to any of our segments; a $5 million increase allocated to our former Timeshare segment; an $8 million decrease allocated to our North American Limited-Service segment; an $8 million decrease allocated to our Luxury segment; a $7 million decrease allocated to our North American Full-Service segment; and a $1 million decrease allocated to our International segment.

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