IHG posts $383m half-yearly loss, still manages to sign one new hotel deal per day

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) suffered a big loss in the first six months of 2020, but it wasn’t all bad news for the company.

IHG posted a US$275 million ($383.4 million) half-yearly loss, compared to a US$375 million ($522.9 million) profit during the same period in 2019.

Global RevPAR declined by 52 per cent in the first half and was down 75 per cent in the second quarter, when occupancy at comparable IHG hotels fell to 25 per cent.

However, the group still managed to open more than 90 hotels in the first six months of the year, and strengthened its pipeline with an average of one new signing a day, including almost 100 for its Holiday Inn brand.

IHG noted that “small but steady” improvements in occupancy and RevPAR through the second quarter continued into July, with an expected RevPAR decline of 58 per cent, and occupancy rising to around 45 per cent.

The company has also maintained roughly US$2 billion ($2.8 billion) in liquidity, and plans to make around half of the US$150 million ($209.1 million) of savings it will achieve this year sustainable into 2021.

“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,” IHG chief executive Keith Barr said.

“Whilst the near-term outlook remains uncertain and the time period for market recovery is unknown, we are well-positioned with preferred brands in the largest markets and segments, a leading loyalty platform and one of the most resilient business models in the industry.

“This gives us confidence in our ability to meet the needs of our guests and owners, and to emerge strongly when markets recover.”


Featured image source: iStock/georgeclerk

Latest News

  • Partner Content

My journey: Before becoming a travel agent I was… a palliative care nurse 

Australind Travel & Cruise, Travellers Choice member Saibra Twigg reveals her life as paediatric nurse then to palliative care before a career leap to travel agent. How did you become a palliative care nurse?  ST I went straight from school in nursing and initially specialised in paediatrics, working at Perth’s Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. […]

Partner Content

by Travel Weekly

Travel Weekly
  • Aviation

Emirates unveils future plans with new hub at Al Maktoum International Airport

Emirates has unveiled a glimpse of its future with the news of a new base at  Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai overnight. Also referred to as the Dubai World Central, the airport is undergoing an AUD $53.3b refurbishment. Once complete, it will become the city’s main international hub with five parallel runways and 400 […]

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]