InterContinental Hotels to add new rooms in pursuit of growth

InterContinental Hotels Group is to double its efforts as it its target of adding 60,000 new rooms to its portfolio by the end of 2008.

The hotel group's first quarter results to 31 March showed room count had remained steady at 537,544 rooms, with the pipeline of new rooms up by 8,452 to 116,964.

Turnover for the period was up 22% to £186m and operating profit up 40% from £30m to £42m.

Andrew Cosslett chief executive of InterContinental said: "Results for the quarter were strong, helped by buoyant market conditions around the world and the impact of actions taken during the second half of 2005."

He said the changes included strengthened and refocused development teams, new operating structures and revisions to the company's marketing approach in key locations.

Cosslett said InterContinental's disposal programme was on track and the group's focus was now on improving the quality of the estate and the addition of rooms.

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By Emily Manson

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