Higher rates, more rooms boost InterContinental Hotels' first quarter revenue

InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, the world’s largest provider of hotel accommodation, said first- quarter revenue per room rose as the company added properties and charged more per room.

Revenue per available room, a measure of occupancy and rates, increased by 3.1 percent from a year earlier, boosted by a 2 percent gain in the average daily room rate, the Denham, England-based company said in a statement today. Full-year results will probably be in line with expectations, it said.

“Our high-quality pipeline, broad geographic spread and fee-based model give us confidence for the year ahead, despite the challenging economic conditions,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Solomons said in the statement.

The owner of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands is benefiting from growing demand for accommodation in the Americas, which account for about half of the company’s revenue. Revpar in the region rose 4.1 percent, driven by a 4.6 percent gain in the U.S.

Revpar fell 2.2 percent in Europe, led by a 2.4 percent drop in the U.K., as the timing of the Easter holiday hurt occupancy, the company said.

Editors: Ross Larsen and Andrew Blackman.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dalia Fahmy in Berlin at dfahmy1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net.