A strong first half in Europe helped to boost revenue per available room at InterContinental Hotels (IHG) by 2.1 per cent, and led to an 8 per cent increase in operating profit to $370m (£285m). Comparable revenue per available room in the region improved by 6.2 per cent, driven mainly by London and recovery in Paris. The first Kimpton hotel was opened in Amsterdam and growth in London should continue to be strong with the new Hotel Indigo in Leicester Square. Overall 23,000 rooms were opened during the period, a 31 per cent increase year-on-year.
The hotel group invested around $186m in the business, including redesigns to the rooms and public areas at Holiday Inn locations and the ongoing repositioning of Crowne Plaza. The group is also looking to introduce a cloud-based guest reservation system towards the end of this year, with full roll-out expected before the beginning of 2019.
Analysts at Stifel expect pre-tax profits of $660m in the year to December giving an EPS of 236¢, compared with $620m and 203¢ in FY2016.
| INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL GROUP (IHG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 4,245p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 8.07bn | |
| TOUCH: | 4,245-4,249p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 4,492p | LOW: 2,984p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.8% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET DEBT: | $2.1bn | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2016 | 838 | 298 | 87.3 | 30 |
| 2017 | 857 | 326 | 111 | 33 |
| % change | +2 | +9 | +27 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 31 Aug | |||
| Payment: | 06 Oct | |||
| *Negative shareholder funds £1 = $1.30 | ||||
