Latest news with #ElieMaalouf
Skift
08-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
IHG: U.S. ‘Broadly Flat', China a Drag – But Keeps Profit Target
IHG is seeing the same soft trends as other hotel groups, but it's holding onto its profit target. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) reported mixed first-quarter results Thursday, with global room revenue up over 3% but signs of weakening demand in some key markets. U.S. bookings flattened in recent weeks while those in China fell for the second straight quarter. London bookings were flat year-over-year. Marriott and Hilton recently trimmed their forecasts, but IHG said it still expected to meet its $1.25 billion profit target – it cited cost discipline and new revenue streams from credit card partnerships. Here's everything we learned from IHG's earnings report: 1) Momentum is fading in the U.S.: Revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 3.5% in the Americas, but performance weakened as the quarter progressed. 'When we take the last 8 weeks in aggregate, RevPAR has been broadly flat,' said CFO Michael Glover. 2) Reduced government travel was a factor: CEO Elie Maalouf said this line of business represents less than 5% of revenues and dropped to 3.5% in the quarter. He added that this impact is expected to persist. 3) Summer travel could lift results: 'We already see on-the-books revenue ahead of last year for July and August,' Glover said. 4) China drag continues: Greater China's RevPAR declined 3.5% for the second consecutive quarter. 'Travel has been occurring in the same volumes as the prior year, which is reflected in the occupancy holding up, though the rate is down year-on-year,' Glover said. Performance in Tier 2-4 cities dropped 5.7%. 5) Maalouf's upbeat take: 'Things are steadying up in China.' 'The latest results we got for the May holiday, Labor Day holiday, were record travel, over 6% increase in travel from last year, over 8% increase in travel spending.' 6) EMEAA up: RevPAR rose 5% in the EMEAA [Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia] region. East Asia and the Pacific led at 6.8%, followed by the Middle East (6.2%) and Continental Europe (5.6%). 7) Maalouf linked part of that growth to Chinese travelers: 'The higher-end traveler mostly left China, and so that took some rate off, but demand was good.' He added, 'China to Asia Pacific is again up double-digit from last year, and inbound into Europe from Asia is up again." 8) Performance in the U.K. lagged: 'London within that was a small negative,' Glover said. 'Outside of London, we were slightly positive.' He noted that London's decline was primarily driven by a difference in the number of major events held in the first quarter compared to the previous year. 9) Development surges, led by conversions and Ruby Hotels: IHG opened 14,600 rooms globally in Q1, more than double the same period last year, and signed 25,800 rooms across 158 hotels, including over 5,000 from its Ruby Hotels acquisition in February. 'This level of signings was also well ahead of last year and led to a closing pipeline of 334,000 rooms [2,265 hotels], which is 9% more than a year ago,' Maalouf said. 10) Nearly 40% of signings were conversions: 'It was 30% higher in the U.S., in the Americas. It was double China... we're optimistic about good growth signings and openings in the Middle East for the rest of the year,' Maalouf said. The expansion of conversion-friendly brands like Voco, Vignette, and Garner continues to be a key part of IHG's development strategy, as Maalouf outlined earlier this year. 11) A new U.S. co-branded credit card and increased loyalty point sales are key to that outlook: 'The incremental profit on the loyalty point sales and from the new U.S. co-brand credit card agreements should add around 130 basis points to our fee margin expansion,' Glover said. He also noted cost discipline: 'We grew fee revenue by 6% last year with overhead costs only growing at 1%.' Maalouf said pricing remained steady and that IHG hadn't seen a shift in consumer behavior. 'We're not seeing any price resistance. Occupancy continues to be good.' He said IHG's portfolio mix makes it resilient in a choppy economy: "The upper luxury segment is pretty resilient due to the insensitivity or lack of sensitivity of people to that wealth bracket, and our mid-scale segment is resilient because of essential travel." IHG CEO Elie Maalouf will appear onstage at Skift Global Forum in September in New York City.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
IHG Buys Ruby Hotels as 20th Brand
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) said Monday it would acquire the Ruby hotel brand in a deal worth up to €291.5 million ($305.7 million), marking an expansion of its European portfolio. This acquisition will add another brand to IHG Hotels & Resorts' portfolio, which already includes Crown Plaza, Kimpton, and Holiday Inn. The deal reflects the ongoing consolidation in the global hospitality industry that CEO Elie Maalouf described in a recent Skift interview. Many independently run hotel brands face distribution pressures that increasingly push them into franchising, sales, or other partnerships with major hotel groups like IHG. Ruby's premium economy concept targets travelers with space-efficient rooms, self-service check-in, and 24/7 bars. It's comparable to Marriott's Moxy, Hilton's Tru, and CitizenM. Ruby Hotels specializes in converting office spaces to hotels. IHG isn't buying Ruby's operating company — just the brand rights. The seller will continue operating current hotels under franchise agreements with IHG. The initial payment will be €110.5 million (about $115 million) for the Ruby brand and intellectual property. Based on performance, an extra €181 million could be paid between 2030 and 2035. Ruby currently runs 20 hotels with 3,483 rooms across major European cities. The pipeline includes 10 more hotels, adding another 2,235 rooms. Target: 120+ hotels in 10 years, 250+ in 20 years. Integration into IHG's system, including its loyalty program, will begin this year and be complete by March 2026. IHG's CEO sees this as more than just a European move. He plans to launch Ruby in the U.S. by year-end. "We see excellent opportunities to not only expand Ruby's strong European base but also rapidly take this exciting brand to the Americas and across Asia," Maalouf said during an earnings call. IHG CEO Elie Maalouf sees rich potential in many fragmented hotel markets, such as Europe and Japan, where independent hoteliers face mounting pressures from digital transformation. Read More What am I looking at? The performance of hotels and short-term rental sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets, including international and regional hotel brands, hotel REITs, hotel management companies, alternative accommodations, and timeshares. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more hotels and short-term rental financial sector performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200. Get breaking travel news and exclusive hotel, airline, and tourism research and insights at
Zawya
19-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Holiday Inn owner IHG's $900mln share buyback disappoints, shares fall
Holiday Inn owner IHG announced a $900 million share buyback plan on Tuesday which fell short of some investors' estimates, sending its stock around 5% lower despite the hotel operator's better than expected annual room revenue. IHG's plan to return more than $1.1 billion to shareholders in 2025, including the buyback it said would start immediately and a 10% increase in dividend, overshadowed its results and purchase of European urban hotel brand Ruby for $116 million. Its shares, which had scaled all-time highs last week, were down 5.4% by 1446 GMT on the lower-than-expected buyback as well as concerns about rising expenses, according to analysts. "On balance, whilst this is a sound print overall, we believe SBB (share buyback) expectations were a touch higher on average, which might not be enough for the shares today in the context of the recent share price performance," JP Morgan analysts said in a note. Some had expected up to $1 billion in buybacks. IHG, which also owns Crowne Plaza and Six Senses hotels, reported growth of 3% in annual room revenue, boosted by a pick-up in demand in the United States and despite weakness in China. Analysts had expected average revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key industry metric, to grow 2.6% for the year ended December 31, 2024, a company-compiled consensus showed. CEO Elie Maalouf said he planned to expand the Ruby brand to the United States and Asia. The business operates 20 hotels in European cities. "We would expect this (Ruby) brand to compete with Hilton's Motto and CitzenM, both successful brands globally," analysts at Bernstein said in a note. In the United States, its largest market, IHG reported a RevPAR growth of 1.7% for the year. In China, RevPAR fell 4.8%. Peers Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide had forecast a downbeat 2025, hurt by poor performance at hotels in Greater China, while Hyatt Hotels reported a less than stellar fourth quarter last week. On Tuesday IHG reported annual operating profit in line with market expectations. ($1=0.9555 euros) (Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Clarence Fernandez and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Holiday Inn owner IHG buys Ruby Hotels as profits rise
Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has snapped up another hotel brand as it reported stronger profits. The FTSE 100 firm said it has acquired Ruby Hotels for an initial 110.5 million euros (£87.6 million). The business was founded in 2013 and currently has 20 hotels, including three in the UK – in London. IHG said the business has a pipeline for 10 further planned hotels and it intends to grow the brand 'substantially further', with plans to expand into the US. It will become the group's 20th brand after it has expanded through a series of takeover deals. IHG chief executive Elie Maalouf said: 'This acquisition demonstrates our focus on building our presence in large, attractive industry segments and using our experience of integrating and growing brands and hotel portfolios. 'The urban micro space is a franchise-friendly model with attractive owner economics and we see excellent opportunities to not only expand Ruby's strong European base but also rapidly take this exciting brand to the Americas and across Asia, as we have successfully done with previous brand acquisitions.' It came as IHG revealed that operating profits grew by 10% to 1.12 billion US dollars (£890 million) in 2024, as it benefited from more hotel openings. IHG, which has 355 UK hotels, reported that revenues increased by 7% to 2.31 billion dollars (£1.83 billion) for the year. Meanwhile, the firm's key sales metric, global revenue per available room, rose by 3%, with this accelerating to 4.6% in the final quarter of the year. The company said it was boosted by the opening of 371 hotels over the year, taking its estate to a total of 6,629 hotels. It added that it continues to make progress with Holiday Inn Express, its largest single brand, which has more than 3,200 hotels, with a planned pipeline of more than 600 extra sites. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Holiday Inn owner IHG buys Ruby Hotels as profits rise
Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has snapped up another hotel brand as it reported stronger profits. The FTSE 100 firm said it has acquired Ruby Hotels for an initial 110.5 million euros (£87.6 million). The business was founded in 2013 and currently has 20 hotels, including three in the UK – in London. IHG said the business has a pipeline for 10 further planned hotels and it intends to grow the brand 'substantially further', with plans to expand into the US. It will become the group's 20th brand after it has expanded through a series of takeover deals. IHG chief executive Elie Maalouf said: 'This acquisition demonstrates our focus on building our presence in large, attractive industry segments and using our experience of integrating and growing brands and hotel portfolios. 'The urban micro space is a franchise-friendly model with attractive owner economics and we see excellent opportunities to not only expand Ruby's strong European base but also rapidly take this exciting brand to the Americas and across Asia, as we have successfully done with previous brand acquisitions.' It came as IHG revealed that operating profits grew by 10% to 1.12 billion US dollars (£890 million) in 2024, as it benefited from more hotel openings. IHG, which has 355 UK hotels, reported that revenues increased by 7% to 2.31 billion dollars (£1.83 billion) for the year. Meanwhile, the firm's key sales metric, global revenue per available room, rose by 3%, with this accelerating to 4.6% in the final quarter of the year. The company said it was boosted by the opening of 371 hotels over the year, taking its estate to a total of 6,629 hotels. It added that it continues to make progress with Holiday Inn Express, its largest single brand, which has more than 3,200 hotels, with a planned pipeline of more than 600 extra sites.
