InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has said that it is seeing some "very early" signs of improvement in demand after the Holiday Inn-owner's revenue more than halved and profit slumped by 82% during the first half of 2020.
IHG, the other brands of which include the Crowne Plaza, Regent and Hualuxe hotel chains, also underlined that it has limited visibility on when the travel market will recover after six months that have seen billions in business travel and holidays cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis.
"The impact of this crisis on our industry cannot be underestimated, but we are seeing some very early signs of improvement as restrictions ease and traveller confidence returns," CEO Keith Barr said.
In line with other major hotel operators, IHG's revenues during the six months to June 30 declined by 52% to $488 million, and adjusted operating profit was $74 million, down from $410 million a year earlier, as the group strove to cut costs and get hotels up and running again.
However, it said that there is "small but steady" improvements in hotel room revenues (RevPAR), with July RevPAR down 58% after a near 75% slump in the second quarter.
Shares, Fee Business Cost Reductions, Interim Dividend And Available Liquidity
Shares in the company, which have fallen by approximately 20% this year, were up as much as 4% by 0722 GMT on Tuesday August 11.
IHG said that it is on track to reduce costs in its fee business by aproximately $150 million this year.
The company did not propose an interim dividend and said that it has total available liquidity of $2 billion.
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