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InterContinental Hotels Group PLC on Tuesday reported improved profit and revenue in 2022 on the back of a strong rebound in travel following the Covid-19 pandemic. IHG raised total annual dividend by more than 60%, and announced a new $750 million share buyback. The hotel and resort chain reported a pretax profit of $540 million for 2022, up 50% from $361 million in 2021. Revenue totalled $3.89 billion in 2022, up 34% from $2.91 billion in 2021. This was in line with expectations of $3.9 billion from UBS and just below expectations of $3.97 billion from Jefferies. By region, IHG said Europe, the Middle East & Africa saw the largest revenue growth, up 82% against the previous year. Meanwhile, Greater China saw the greatest decline, with revenue down 25% year-on-year. ‘In 2022 we saw demand return strongly in most of our markets, pushing group revenue per available room back close to 2019 levels and fee margin ahead. It’s particularly pleasing that in the second half of the year we exceeded 2019 levels for both RevPAR and profitability,’ said Chief Executive Keith Barr. Group comparable RevPAR improved 37% year-on-year in 2022. However, it remained 3.3% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Looking forward, Barr said IHG expects to see continued strong leisure demand in many markets, alongside a further return of business and group travel and the re-opening of China. IHG proposed a final dividend of $0.945. This represented an increase of 10% against the year prior and takes the total payout for the year to $1.384, up 61% from $0.859. The company also announced a share buyback programme to return $750 million of surplus capital in 2023. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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