RevPAR revs up at InterContinental

Holiday Inns and Crowne Plaza hotels owner InterContinental Hotels Group saw revenue per available room (RevPAR) grow across all regions in the third quarter.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $473m, versus $467m in the third quarter of 2011; that's a 1% gain in actual terms, or a 3% rise on a constant exchange rates (CER) basis.

RevPAR was up 3.9% worldwide, bringing the year-to-date growth in RevPAR to 5.6%. Regionally, RevPAR was up 4.6% in the Americas, with the US also up 4.6%; Europe was up 2.0%, AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa) was up 2.9% and Greater China improved by 4.0%.

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Performance in the UK received a boost during the Olympic and Paralympic games, but trading was weaker in the periods before and after those sporting events.

The group is still totting up the figures for October, but the scores on the doors so far indicate 4.8% year-on-year growth, with the Americas +6.1%; Europe +2.3%, AMEA +3.4%; Greater China +0.3%.

"Our preferred brands have driven good underlying revenue growth despite a number of industry wide issues such as the timing of holidays, slowing economic growth in certain markets and the political leadership change in China," asserted Richard Solomons, Chief Executive of InterContinental Hotels Group.

Third quarter profit before tax slipped to $150m from $194m the year before, but with one-off items stripped out, the picture looked a lot brighter, with profit of $154m surpassing last year's $138m.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share climbed to 39.9 cents from 35.7 cents a year earlier.

"The global economic environment remains challenging. However, our forward bookings remain encouraging and we are confident that IHG is well positioned to continue to outperform based on the considerable strengths of the business and our focused strategy for high quality growth," Solomons said.