IHG Announces 2020 Third Quarter Trading Update

Stuart Jay Raj -

Group Q3 RevPAR down 53.4%; continued outperformance in key markets; YTD down 52.3%

Keith Barr, Chief Executive Officer, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, said that Despite the challenges the company continued to open new hotels and sign more into its pipeline.

IHG signed 82 hotels in the quarter, taking the company to 263 year-to-date, more than a quarter of which are conversions.

“Trading improved in the third quarter, although progress continues to vary by region. RevPAR declined 53%, compared to a 75% decline in the prior quarter, while occupancy was 44%, up from 25% in Q2. Domestic mainstream travel remains the most resilient, and our industry-leading Holiday Inn Brand Family positions us well to meet that demand as it slowly returns. I want to thank all our incredible colleagues and hotel owners for their dedication to creating a clean, safe stay experience that every one of our guests can count on in these uncertain times", said Keith Barr.

Q3 Result Summary

  • 11k rooms opened (82 hotels), 23k YTD; 6.7k added across mainstream brands, 4.2k in upscale and luxury
  • Signed a further 14k rooms (82 hotels), 40k YTD; total pipeline now 286k rooms (1,899 hotels)
  • Fee Business costs on track to reduce by ~$150m in 2020; targeting half this level to be sustainable into 2021
  • Positive cash flow in Q3, leading to total available liquidity at end of September increasing to $2.1bn
  • In the Americas, Development activity saw ground broken on 30 hotels and 2.5k rooms (27 hotels) signed, including nine across the Holiday Inn Brand Family, three avid hotels and two Atwell Suites. Momentum continues to build for the voco brand that we brought to the region earlier in the year, with three conversions already signed.
  • Q3 RevPAR declined 70.4%, with Europe down 72%, Australia 66% and the Middle East 65%.
  • Signed 3.0k rooms (18 hotels) in the region (Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa)
  • In Greater China, Over 20% of the portfolio achieved positive RevPAR growth for the quarter, which included resort destinations that benefited from ‘staycation’ demand over the summer months.
  • In Greater China, Opened 2.2k new rooms (10 hotels) in the quarter, with net rooms growth of 8.1% YoY. Signings totalled 8.1k rooms (37 hotels), representing an increase in development activity on the same quarter last year.

"A full industry recovery will take time and uncertainty remains regarding the potential for further improvement in the short term, but we take confidence from the steps taken to protect and support our owners and drive demand back to our hotels as guests feel safe to travel. Our actions have resulted in ongoing industry outperformance in our key markets, and we remain focused on leveraging the strength of our brands, scale and market positioning to recover strongly and drive future growth." Keith Barr added.