Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc posted a higher net profit for the second quarter on Thursday, helped by broad cost cuts.

The White Plains, New York-based company posted net income of $134 million, or 74 cents per share, compared with $105 million, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, the hotelier earned 22 cents per share.

Systemwide revenue per available room for Starwood's hotels around the world dropped nearly 28 percent in the second quarter. The company said it had lost about $10 million from the H1N1 flu virus during the quarter.

Costs and expenses dropped 19.6 percent.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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