IHG shares jump on strong H1 results

Investing.com -- Shares of IHG Hotels&Resorts (LON:IHG) were up 3.7% on Tuesday at ET 3:03 am (0703 GMT) following its results for the first half of 2024. 

The company's operating profit from reportable segments climbed 12% to $535 million, driven by a 7% revenue increase to $1.1 billion. 

This was underpinned by a 3% increase in global RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room), a key performance metric that measures average revenue generated per available room. Strong performances in the Americas and EMEAA regions offset challenges in Greater China.

“RevPAR growth accelerated in the latest quarter, reflecting a strong US rebound in Q2 and the breadth of our global footprint, and development activity continues to increase,” said Elie Maalouf, chief executive at IHG Hotels&Resorts. 

“After growth of +7% in Q1, a very busy Q2 saw +23% more signings year‑on‑year or a more than doubling when including NOVUM, and this keeps us on track for net system size growth expectations,” he added. 

IHG's focus on driving fee-based income paid off, with the fee margin expanding by 1.8 percentage points to 60.6%. This, combined with cost management, led to a 12% increase in adjusted EPS to 203.9 cents.

The group returned over $400 million to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in the first half. IHG signed a record number of hotels in the first half, expanding its pipeline.