IHG reports revpar boost amid 'strong' demand for travel
UK revenue per available room (revpar) at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) rose 14% last year, just shy of the hotel company's global revpar growth of 16%.
In its full year results for 2023, IHG's profit before tax almost doubled from $540m (£428m) in 2022 to over $1b (£0.8b) in 2023, while adjusted EBITDA rose from $896m (£710m) to $1.1b (£861m).
UK revpar was also up 17% compared to 2019 and up 5% in Q4 of 2023 compared to last year's figures.
Within the EMEAA region, revpar was up 23.7% from 2022 and 15.4% from pre-pandemic levels (2019), with ADR (average daily rate) also up 9.8% and occupancy up 7.9%.
The number of hotels in EMEAA increased by 68 over 2022, taking the total to 1,237, which is being led by 382 Holiday Inn properties, 349 Holiday Inn Express properties, and 178 Crowne Plaza properties.
Some 67.8% of IHG's EMEAA sites are franchised, in line with the 71% of global IHG properties that are also owned under this model.
Within EMEAA, revpar growth was particularly strong in the Kimpton (up 47.1%), InterContinental (up 26%) and Hotel Indigo (24.5%) brands.
The region has 469 more hotels in the pipeline, which represents 33% of EMEAA's current portfolio.
Over a third of the signings for the year were across IHG's Luxury & Lifestyle brands, several of which included the group's conversion brands Vignette and Voco.
Across the board, IHG saw "record levels" in conversions, with 37% of combined signings and openings activity in 2023 represented in this market.
Globally, Holiday Inn Express attracted the highest total gross revenue of $9.2b (£7.3b), up from $8.3b (£6.6b) in 2022.
Meanwhile, Hotel Indigo witnessed the highest rate of growth in total gross revenue, up 28.2% from last year, taking figures to $0.9b.
More than 40% of the global pipeline of IHG properties is under construction, which is weighted 52% across midscale and 48% across upscale and luxury.
At the end of 2023, IHG revealed it has 6,363 hotels globally, after it removed 76 hotels over the past year.
The group also announced a further $800m (£634m) share buyback programme, which is "expected to return over $1b to shareholders in 2024".
Elie Maalouf, chief executive of IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: "I was honoured to take over as IHG's group CEO in July and would like to thank our teams for delivering an excellent set of results. Travel demand was strong across all markets, with RevPAR up 16% on last year and 11% ahead of the 2019 pre-pandemic peak.
"Alongside strong trading and financial performances, we continued to grow our portfolio and the global footprint of our brands. We opened 275 hotels in 2023 and signed more than double that amount – 556 hotels – into our pipeline. Adjusting for the effect of the Iberostar hotels joining IHG's system, openings for the fourth quarter grew by 27% year-on-year and signings were up by 50%, representing one of our biggest ever quarters for development activity."
IHG owns and operates 19 hotel brands in more than 100 countries.
