InterContinental to pay 350m dollar special dividend

6th Aug 2013 07:10

FTSE 100-listed InterContinental Hotels said revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 3.7 per cent in the first half as it announced it would pay a 350m dollar special dividend.Chief Executive Richard Solomons commented: "We have delivered a good performance in the first half, with our preferred brands driving RevPAR growth of 3.7%, including 4.0% in the second quarter, led by our Americas region."First half RevPAR in the Americas rose 4.5%, US fell 4.7%, while Europe climbed 0.4%. AMEA increased 6.2% and Greater China slipped 0.1%. As well as the special dividend to be paid in October, the hotel group has increased its interim dividend payment 10% to 23.0 cents. The Holiday Inn owner said total gross revenue from hotels in the system rose 1% to $10.4bn in the half-year to the end of June (2% CER). Operating profit rose 20% to $338m in the half year June 30th 2013 while revenue increased 7% to $936m during the period. Total basic EPS jumped 37% to 127.8 cents. The group added 15,000 rooms or 108 hotels during the period, with more than half of these for the Holiday Inn brand.Solomons added: "Early indications are that current trading trends are broadly in line with the first half.""We continue to strengthen our foundation for future growth, signing more than 200 hotels into our pipeline, a notable increase on H1 2012 reflecting our owners' confidence in both IHG and the industry demand drivers.""Our high quality pipeline, broad geographic spread and fee based model give us confidence in the outlook, despite the ongoing challenging economic conditions in some of our markets." CJ