Terrorist attacks cost Six Continents £17m

The immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the USA cost Six Continents $25m (£17m), the hotel and pub operator has announced.

Shortly after the 11 September outrages, Six Continents, which owns the Inter-Continental and Holiday Inn brands, warned it would suffer "substantial" short-term effects, as more than 20% of its profits were generated during September and October.

In a trading update last week, for the period from 11 September to the end of the month, chief executive Tim Clarke and finance director Richard North said its owned and leased hotels in the USA and Europe had been hardest hit.

Hotels in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Paris and Hong Kong had been particularly badly hit. By contrast, the impact on the franchise business had been "proportionately small".

The main effect on Six Continents' retail arm, which includes the All Bar One, Harvester and O'Neill's chains, had been in central London.

Core like-for-like retail sales rose nearly 1% in the period, with total sales ahead more than 7%, compared with the same time last year.

Last year Six Continents posted full-year pretax profits of £756m. Before the attacks, analysts had been predicting £800m this year. This dropped to £710m after the attacks, with a figure of around £720m now pencilled in.

by Nic Paton