The world's top international hotelier intercontinental Hotels Plc on Thursday gave an upbeat message on hotel trading for 2004 and announced a share buy-back programme after reporting a dip in 2003 profits.
The British-based group, which operates intercontinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels, added more positive news for investors with a plan to float its Britvic soft drinks unit, worth around one billion pounds ($1.82 billion), after 2005.
Chief Executive Richard North said hotel trading was picking up in the group's Americas region and the UK, while Asia-Pacific was back to levels seen before the Sars outbreak hit business.
But mainland Europe - especially France and Germany - was still very tough.
"Conditions in America and UK are improving steadily while Asia-Pacific has recovered, but Europe remains difficult with Paris dire due to a lack of US tourists, a weak economy and the weakness of the US dollar," North told a briefing.
intercontinental, which runs more than 3,400 hotels with over 500,000 rooms world-wide, reported a 5.4 percent dip in 2003 profits to 244 million pounds ($444 million), towards the top end of analyst forecasts of 215-248 million pounds.
North said profits rose 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, led by mid-market Holiday Inn hotels in America and the UK, while its past heavy hotel investment was tumbling down and was 300 million pounds in 2003 - half the level of 2001.
The group suffered in 2003 along with other hotel companies from the effects of the war in Iraq, the deadly Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus and weak economies, especially in continental Europe.
Its shares, which have performed strongly since its demerger from Six Continents in April 2003, dipped 1.3 percent to 516 pence by 0920 GMT on disappointment that the share buy back and asset sale plans were not as big as some had expected.
"There is a bit of everything, but not enough of anything," said ABN Amro analyst Simon Larkin.
Julian Easthope at UBS said there was some dismay the share buy back programme and asset sales were not larger.
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