IHG Stays on Track Amid Mixed Regional Performance; Share Buyback Continues

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON: IHG) released its Third Quarter 2025 Trading Update, reporting a global RevPAR increase of 1.4% year-to-date, although growth moderated to 0.1% in Q3.

Despite regional variations, the company reaffirmed its confidence in meeting full-year consensus profit and earnings expectations.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key metric in the hospitality industry, showed diverging trends across regions.

The Americas saw a YTD increase of 0.8%, but experienced a decline of 0.9% in Q3. EMEAA (Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia) demonstrated robust growth with a YTD increase of 3.8% and a Q3 rise of 2.8%. Greater China, while still negative, showed improvement with a YTD decline of 2.6% and a Q3 decline of 1.8%.

Comparable Q3 global rooms revenue analysis indicated a 4% increase in business travel, which was offset by declines of 2% in leisure and 4% in group bookings. Occupancy rates edged up by 0.4 percentage points, while the average daily rate (ADR) decreased by 0.4%.

IHG continues to aggressively expand its global footprint. Gross system growth reached 7.2% year-over-year, with net system growth at 5.2% (or 4.4% on a reported basis, adjusting for the Venetian Resort Las Vegas).

The company opened 14,500 rooms (99 hotels) in Q3, marking a 17% year-over-year increase. Signings were also strong, with 22,600 rooms (170 hotels) added to the pipeline, up 18% year-over-year. The global pipeline now stands at 342,000 rooms (2,316 hotels), a 4.7% year-over-year increase.

IHG is actively returning capital to shareholders. The company has completed $700 million of its $900 million share buyback program for 2025, reducing the share count by 3.9%. Total returns to shareholders, including dividends, are expected to exceed $1.1 billion in 2025.

Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer of IHG Hotels & Resorts, stated, “We continue to demonstrate IHG's ability to capture demand across geographies, chain scales and stay occasions, which forms the foundation of resilient strength in our business.”

IHG also announced its intention to change the trading currency of its ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange from British Pounds to US Dollars, effective from the start of January 2026. This move aims to align the share price more closely with the company's financial performance, which is reported in USD.

The company issued a €850 million bond in September 2025, with proceeds converted to $990 million via currency swaps. After this year's buyback program, leverage at the end of 2025 is expected to be around the middle of IHG's net debt:adjusted EBITDA target range of 2.5-3.0x, based on analyst consensus.