InterContinental Hotels Group PLC saw profits jump in the first six months as global travel demand continues to rise following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
The Holiday Inn owner also resumed payment of an interim dividend and announced it will buy back shares worth US$500mln (£414mln) as part of its programme to return capital to shareholders.
Revenue totalled US$11.7bn in the six months to 30 June 2022, a rise of 48% on the same period last year, although it was still 14% below pre-pandemic 2019.
Operating profits soared to US$361mln from US$138mln.
The rising demand for travel saw global group revenue per available room (RevPAR) climb 44% in the second quarter. It was down just 4.5% on 2019, indicating that the business is close to recovering from the pandemic.
The FTSE 100 company said profitability in the Americas region is now ahead of 2019, with RevPAR in the second quarter up 3.5% on three years ago. The EMEAA region saw “strong” sequential improvement with Q2 RevPAR down 10.3% on 2019, it said.
However, Greater China was hit by new Covid-related travel restrictions during the period and Q2 RevPAR was 48.9% below 2019.
The group opened around 100 hotels in the first half and signed more than 200 properties to take its pipeline to 1,858.
IHG is paying an interim dividend of 43.9 US cents, which is 10% higher than the last time it was paid in 2019.
"We saw continued strong trading in the first half of 2022 with increased demand for travel in most of our markets. This brought group RevPAR very close to pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter,” commented Keith Barr, chief executive officer of IHG Hotels & Resorts.
“Alongside leisure stays, the return of business and group travel demand continued to build over the period, and our hotels are seeing increased pricing power due to the strength of IHG's brands, loyalty programme and technology platform.”