IHG reports 7% rise in worldwide revenue

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has reported a 7% rise in revenue to £610m and worldwide revpar growth of 3.7% in its half year results to 30 June 2013.

In Europe growth was slower, with revpar overall up 0.4% year on year, propped up by a 2.2% increase in the second quarter. This was down to the change in timing of Easter impacting trading in a different quarter.

Revpar in the UK was up 1.6%. Revenue in Europe was flat at £134m, while profit increased 6% after adjusting for a £5.8m liquidated damages cost and the sale of InterContinental London Park Lane.

Eight hotels were opened in the six month period, 1,000 rooms of which were Holiday Inn. A further 200 rooms were signed, mostly for the Holiday Inn brand.

InterContinental Hotels Group chief executive Richard Solomons said: "We have delivered a good performance in the first half, with our preferred brands driving revpar growth of 3.7%, including 4.0% in the second quarter. Our global scale has allowed us to reinvest in the business whilst growing margins, resulting in solid underlying profit gains led by our Americas region, and strong cash flows.

"We continue to strengthen our foundation for future growth, signing more than 200 hotels into our pipeline, a notable increase on H1 2012 reflecting our owners' confidence in both IHG and the industry demand drivers.

"Our high quality pipeline, broad geographic spread and fee based model give us confidence in the outlook, despite the ongoing challenging economic conditions in some of our markets."

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