23rd Feb 2016 07:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - InterContinental Hotels Group PLC on Tuesday said its operating profit rose but revenue dipped in 2015 as it hiked its dividend on its confidence for the coming year and declared a special payout as well.
The FTSE 100-listed hotels operator said its operating profit rose to USD680.0 million in the year to the end of December from USD651.0 million a year earlier, despite revenue dipping to USD1.80 billion from USD1.86 billion, due to the sale of two hotels in Paris and Hong Kong. Pretax profit, which includes proceeds from the two hotel sales, came in at USD1.41 billion, up from GBP600 million in 2014.
Revenue per available room rose 4.4% on a comparable basis in for the year, though this slowed to 2.4% in the fourth quarter, with growth across all its operation regions. Net room growth for the year hit 4.8%, it said.
IHG said it will pay a total dividend of 85.0 cents per share, up from 77.0 cents per share a year earlier thanks to the confidence it has on its outlook. This includes a final dividend of 57.50 cents, an 11% year-on-year rise.
In addition, the group declared a USD1.5 billion special dividend, which will be paid by means of a share consolidation in the second quarter. The special dividend is worth about USD6.33 per share. The size of the special dividend was in line with market expectations and follows the sales of the InterContinental Paris - Le Grand and InterContinental Hong Kong hotels last year.
"Our strong momentum in 2015 was driven by a clear strategy and disciplined execution," said Chief Executive Richard Solomons.
"Looking into the medium term, despite economic and political uncertainty in some markets, the prospects for the hotel industry remain good and the strength of our business model gives us the confidence to propose a 10% increase in total dividend for the year," he added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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