Takeover rumours have whipped up a bit of froth in the shares of InterContinental Hotels (IHG) recently, and this strong set of first-half results sent them up another 3 per cent. Price rises enabled the owner of the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotel chains to post a 5.1 per cent increase in revenue per available room, sending underlying operating profits up by 10 per cent to $329m (£211m).
There were about 41,000 room signings in the first half - the most since 2008 - and the business also has a record number of rooms under construction. Robust demand in the Americas, the group's largest market, drove underlying revenues up 10 per cent and profits up 8 per cent there. But the $430m purchase of boutique hotel group Kimpton pushed net debt up 12 per cent to $1.71bn over the six months.