InterContinental Hotels shares fall as group faces 70% revenue plunge
Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels group InterContinental is facing a 70% plunge in revenues for June, despite “small but steady improvements” in trading.
The FTSE 100-listed company, which has an estate of 5,900 hotels, said the slide in revenues per available room compared with 82% in April and 76% in May during the peak of global Covid-19 lockdowns.
It is seeing an improved trend in its US franchised estate, which benefits from domestic demand and has less reliance on group business. Across the United States, where the majority of its rooms are located, occupancy levels have improved to about 40%.
About 10% of its global estate remains closed, with the figure closer to 30% in the Europe, Middle East and Africa operating region. In Greater China, just 1% of its hotels are closed.
The firm, which qualified for £600 million from the UK government via the Covid Corporate Financing Facility scheme, continues to have about US$2 billion in available liquidity.
Shares have recovered by more than 50% from a low of 2,386p in March.
Last week, City broker Peel Hunt placed a 5,000p price target on the stock, adding that InterConti's mid-market, domestic-focused business was likely to recover before operators with more upscale city-centre hotels.
