InterContinental share price subdued as group posts Q3 results

Shares in InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) have slipped into the red in today’s session, as the company updated investors on its third-quarter performance. The company posted a small rise in revenue as strong results in Europe and China helped offset a lacklustre performance in the Americas.

As of 09:30 BST, InterContinental’s share price had lost 0.51 percent to 4,078.00p, underperforming the benchmark FTSE 100 index which has climbed 0.10 percent to stand at 7,530.49 points. The group’s shares have added more than 16 percent to their value over the past year, and are up by a little over three percent in the year-to-date.

Holiday Inn owner updates on performance

InterContinental said in a statement today that its global comparable revenue per available room (RevPAR) had climbed 2.3 percent in the third quarter of the year. The group saw strong performance in Europe and Greater China, where revenue rose by 7.1 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively.  The UK in particular delivered Q3 RevPAR growth of four percent. In the group’s Americas segment, however, revenue rose 0.8 percent during the reported period, due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma which had mixed impact. This summer’s solar eclipse, however, helped bookings.

“We have delivered a good third quarter performance,” the company’s chief executive Keith Barr commented in the statement, adding that “despite macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties around the world,” InterContinental remained “confident in the outlook for the remainder of the year”.

Brexit boost

Proactive Investors quoted ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson as commenting that there had “been at one very clear economic boost since Brexit – tourism in the UK is booming thanks the weak pound and this has helped hotels”.

“Whilst Merlin Entertainment claims tourist are staying away, hotel owners like IHG and Whitbread are reporting gains amid what is a very resilient hotel market,” he pointed out. 

As of 10:04 BST, Friday, 20 October, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC share price is 4,076.00p.