2007 COMPARED TO 2006
Compared to 2006, income from continuing operations decreased by $15 million (2 percent) to $697 million in 2007, and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased by $0.10 (6 percent) to $1.75. As discussed in more detail in the preceding sections beginning with "Operating Income," the decrease versus the prior year is due to higher general, administrative, and other expenses ($91 million), higher taxes ($61 million), higher interest expense ($60 million), higher loan loss provision ($20 million), lower interest income ($11 million), lower Timeshare sales and services revenue net of direct expenses ($7 million), and lower owned, leased, corporate housing, and other revenue net of direct expenses ($5 million). Partially offsetting these unfavorable variances were higher fee income ($204 million), higher gains and other income ($23 million), higher equity investment results ($12 million), and a higher minority interest benefit ($1 million).

Cumulative Effect of Change in Accounting Principle
2006
Statement of Position 04-2, "Accounting for Real Estate Time-Sharing Transactions"
In December 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Financial Accounting Standards ("FAS") No. 152, "Accounting for Real Estate Time-Sharing Transactions-an amendment of FASB Statements No. 66 and 67," and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants issued SOP 04-2. Addition ally, the FASB amended FAS No. 66, "Accounting for Sales of Real Estate," and FAS No. 67, "Accounting for Costs and Initial Rental Operations of Real Estate Projects," to exclude accounting for real estate time-sharing transactions from these statements. We adopted SOP 04-2 at the beginning of the 2006 first quarter.

Under SOP 04-2, we charge the majority of sales and marketing costs we incur to sell timeshares to expense when incurred. We also record an estimate of expected uncollectibility on notes receivable that we receive from timeshare purchasers as a reduction in revenue at the time that we recognize profit on a timeshare sale. We also account for rental and other operations during holding periods as incidental operations, which require us to record any excess of revenues over costs as a reduction of inventory costs.

The adoption of SOP 04-2 in 2006, which we reported as a cumulative effect of change in accounting principle in our Consolidated Statements of Income, resulted in a non-cash after-tax charge of $109 million ($0.25 per diluted share). The pretax charge totaled $173 million and comprised a $130 million inventory write-down, the establishment of a $25 million notes receivable reserve and an increase in current liabilities of $18 million.

We estimate that, for the 20-year period from 2009 through 2028, the cost of completing improvements and currently planned amenities for our owned timeshare properties will be approximately $3.5 billion.

Business Segments
We are a diversified hospitality company with operations in five business segments:

• North American Full-Service Lodging, which includes the Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Conference Centers, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, and Renaissance ClubSport properties located in the continental United States and Canada;
  
  
• North American Limited-Service Lodging, which includes the Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, and Marriott ExecuStay properties located in the continental United States and Canada;
  
  
• International Lodging, which includes the Marriott Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, and Marriott Executive Apartments properties located outside the continental United States and Canada;
  
  
• Luxury Lodging, which includes The Ritz-Carlton and Bulgari Hotels & Resorts properties worldwide (together with adjacent residential projects associated with some Ritz-Carlton hotels), as well as Edition, for which no properties are yet open; and
  
  
• Timeshare, which includes the development, marketing, operation, and sale of Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Grand Residences by Marriott, and Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club timeshare, fractional ownership, and residential properties worldwide.

In addition to the segments above, in 2007 we exited the synthetic fuel business, which was formerly a separate segment but which we now report under discontinued operations.

We evaluate the performance of our segments based primarily on the results of the segment without allocating corporate expenses, interest expense, income taxes, or indirect general, administrative, and other expenses. With the exception of the Timeshare segment, we do not allocate interest income to our segments. Because note sales are an integral part of the Timeshare segment, we include note sale gains in our Timeshare segment results. We also include interest income associated with our Timeshare segment notes in our Timeshare segment results because financing sales are an integral part of that segment's business. Additionally, we allocate other gains and losses, equity in earnings or losses from our joint ventures, divisional general, administrative, and other expenses, and minority interests in income or losses of consolidated subsidiaries to each of our segments. "Other unallocated corporate" represents that portion of our revenues, general, administrative, and other expenses, equity in earnings or losses, and other gains or losses that are not allocable to our segments.

We aggregate the brands presented within our North American Full-Service, North American Limited-Service, International, Luxury, and Timeshare segments considering their similar economic characteristics, types of customers, distribution channels, the regulatory business environment of the brands and operations within each segment and our organizational and management reporting structure.

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