Hotel company Marriott International Inc. said Thursday that its third-quarter profit dropped 28 percent, and warned investors about deteriorating conditions for 2009 amid the ongoing financial crisis.

Marriott attributed its earnings shortfall to softening North American revenue per available room and a weakening timeshare business. Revenue per available room, or revpar, is considered a key gauge of a hotelier’s performance.

In a sober conference call with investors, Chief Financial Officer Arne Sorenson pressed for Congress to pass a financial bailout package. “There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of jobs at stake in our company alone, and we are typical.” He said it is crucial “that the plan be big and enacted very, very soon.”

Sorenson noted, however, that Marriott has a cushion under its $2.4 billion revolver, which is effective until 2012, until liquidity returns to the marketplace.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 5, net income slipped to $94 million, or 26 cents per share, from $131 million, or 33 cents, a year ago. Excluding a $29 million tax planning charge, the company’s adjusted income from continuing operations totaled $123 million, or 34 cents per share.

Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott said revenue rose 1 percent to $2.96 billion from $2.94 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of 32 cents per share on revenue of $2.95 billion.

In North America, Marriott said third-quarter comparable company-operated revpar declined 1 percent and is expected to drop further _ between 3 and 5 percent _ in the fourth quarter.

Overall worldwide revpar gained 3.4 percent in the third-quarter, but is expected to drop between 1 percent and 3 percent in the fourth quarter.

“Our timeshare business has certainly been far more impacted by the current financial environment than our core lodging business,” said Chairman and Chief Executive J.W. Marriott Jr. in a statement. “Tight credit, soft consumer spending and a difficult securitization market have lowered our expectations for the fourth quarter and 2009.”

For 2009, Marriott said the outlook is uncertain, but said it expects the environment to remain “unusually challenging.” The company said it expects at least a 3 percent decline in North American revpar next year.

Marriott forecast 2009 earnings between $1.48 and $1.60 per share, below analysts’ average profit estimate of $1.85 per share.

Marriott shares lost 78 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $24.30 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $22.12 and $45.10 during the past 52 weeks, and is off nearly 27 percent since January.