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Hotelier IHG reports slower rooms revenue growth

Revenue per available room grew 1.5% in the three months to the end of June

An Intercontinental hotel near the O2 arena in London.

Tue Aug 8 2017 - 07:28

InterContinental Hotels Group reported slower growth in revenue per room in the second quarter, sending its shares down 4 per cent, as a later Easter weighed on its US performance.

The operator of brands such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and InterContinental said revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew 1.5 per cent in the three months to June 30th, down from 2.7 per cent in the first quarter and 2.5 per cent a year earlier.

The Easter holiday, when there are fewer business travellers, fell in the second quarter this year versus the first quarter last year.

"While we will always face macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties, we remain confident in the outlook for 2017," chief executive Keith Barr said in a statement.

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Hoteliers last year saw attacks in Europe hurt demand, but Edgecliffe-Johnson said that IHG had seen no impact from attacks in London and France this year.

Boosted by a strong first quarter, the group posted a 7 per cent rise in six-month underlying operating profit to $365 million and said it remained confident in the 2017 outlook.

IHG has reduced its ownership of hotels to expand via a cheaper fee model, under which it franchises and manages hotels, and focused on business customers to head off the challenge from the likes of Airbnb.

– Reuters

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