BY JAMES WILKINSON
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) recorded a jump in operating profit by 26% to the year ending December 31, 2011, on the back of strong RevPAR growth across the globe.
While releasing the preliminary financial results for 2011 in London last night (Feb 14), IHG’s Chief Executive Richard Solomons said revenue per available room (RevPAR) delivered strong results in China and importantly the United States as the hotel sector continues its strong rebound.
“The strength of our brands, underpinned by our global systems and scale, delivered 6.2% growth in revenue per available room in the year,” he said. “We have continued to outperform the industry in key markets such as the US and Greater China where RevPAR was up 7.9% and 10.7% respectively.
“We are strengthening our business through developing our brand portfolio supported by targeted investment. We also ensure that our hotels with our best in class delivery systems are known for industry leading guest experiences delivered by talented people and dedicated owners.
“Looking ahead, in spite of considerable uncertainty in the Eurozone, IHG is well positioned globally to benefit from positive long term industry trends and, in particular, growing demand in emerging markets.
“Our 15% dividend growth reflects the confidence we have in our ability to deliver high quality growth through market share and margin gains, due to our preferred brands, geographic diversity, robust balance sheet and scalable business model,” he said.
Despite a year of natural disasters, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific produced an increase in RevPAR of 6.3% in 2011, while South East Asia jumped 12.9%.
While the operating profit jumped 26%, revenue was also up 9% for the 2011 calendar year.
Encouraging signs are already in place for the year following a strong January 2012 for IHG, which saw global RevPAR up 6.0%, including an impressive 7.7% from the Americas and 4.2% from Asia Middle East and Africa (AMEA).