22nd Oct 2024 08:40
(Alliance News) - InterContinental Hotels Group PLC on Tuesday said it was on track to meet market forecasts after reporting modest growth in revenue per room in the last quarter.
"We are pleased with the latest trading performance and another strong period of development activity, and we are on track to finish 2024 in line with market expectations," Chief Executive Officer Elie Maalouf said.
The Windsor, England-based international hotel operator said revenue per available room rose 1.5% in the third quarter.
RevPAR rose 1.7% in the Americas and by 4.9% in the Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia region. In Greater China, however, it fell 10%.
IHG also noted "adverse impacts from shifts in the timing of public holidays and the typhoons in September" in China. In the Americas, trading momentum was "broad-based", while in EMEAA, it was "another period of strong demand for this diverse region".
"We came up against strong comparatives of resurgent domestic travel this time last year, and the quarter was still broadly in line with 2019 levels," CEO Maalouf added.
IHG said the figures reflected "the strength of our globally diverse footprint, healthy business demand and a record period for groups bookings."
In the year-to-date, global RevPAR is 2.4% higher, with Americas up 1.8%, EMEAA up 6.4% and Greater China down 5.6%.
In the quarter, global rooms revenue on a comparable hotels basis saw groups demand rise 6%, business climb 2% and leisure broadly flat on same quarter last year.
IHG expects to finish 2024 in line with "market expectations and our growth algorithm".
"The power of this algorithm comes from the compounding nature of growing fee revenues through the combination of RevPAR, system expansion and ancillary fee streams, which in turn helps to increase margins and, with our strong cash generation, allows us to reinvest in our business and return surplus capital to shareholders," IHG explained.
The company is on track to return over USD1 billion to shareholders in 2024 through dividends and buybacks, it added.
Shares in IHG were 1.6% lower at 8,426.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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