US Edition 
InterContinental Hotels powers ahead through turmoil
InterContinental Hotels said it had yet to see evidence that the sovereign debt crisis and plunging stock markets were having an effect on its business as it posted first-half figures.
Richard Solomons, chief executive of the world's largest hotelier, said: "We will keep a careful eye on things, but we are not seeing any effect yet."
The comments came as IHG, which owns brands including Holiday Inn, delivered strong trading figures for the first half of the year, driven by rising occupancy and room rates. At one stage IHG was the only FTSE 100 company with shares trading in positive territory. The shares closed up 78p at £10.41.
Revenues rose 10.7pc to $454m in the three months to the end of June, but pre-tax profits were down 11.9pc at $111m (£68m), struck following a $37m charge to resolve a commercial dispute in Europe.
In the half as a whole, revenues climbed 10.1pc to $850m and pre-tax profits were 6.7pc higher at $205m.
Revenues per available room [revpar] – a key performance metric in the hotel industry – rose 6.7pc over the half, and by 7.6pc excluding Egypt, Bahrain and Japan, which were hit by social unrest and natural disaster.
IHG reiterated its view that events in the Middle East, Japan and New Zealand – which was hit by the Christchurch earthquake – would cost it $15m to $20m this year.
China and the US both reported strong trading figures, with first half revpar up 12.7pc and 8.2pc, respectively. European revpar was 4pc higher.
Mr Solomons said growth had slowed in July – with revpar up 5.6pc – but claimed that was against a bumper July last year and that the group had booked a record number of rooms last month in its US business.
IHG raised its interim dividend by 25pc to 16 cents a share, payable on October 7. The sharp increase comes as the hotel group is rebalancing the way it pays dividends.