Intercontinental Hotels Group, the company behind the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza chains, said revenues sunk in the third quarter as the virus crisis continued to hurt the hospitality sector.
IHG is among accommodation firms to have suffered from travel restrictions hitting guest numbers since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March.
The FTSE-100 group saw comparable revenue per available room, a key industry metric, fall by 53.4% worldwide in the three months to September - a slight improvement on the 75% plunge seen in the second quarter as lockdowns were implemented around the world.
European hotels saw the steepest decline in revenues, down 72% on the same period in 2019.
But IHG said it saw a rise in the number of room bookings over the summer "before weakening in September", with occupancy rising to 44% on average worldwide in the period, up from 25% in the second quarter.
As of 30th September, 199 hotels - 3% of the group's 5,900-plus estate - remained shuttered.
Chief executive Keith Barr pointed to the group’s improved trading over summer, and highlighted that “despite the challenges we’ve faced” IHG signed 82 new hotels in the period.
“Trading improved in the third quarter, although progress continues to vary by region,” he said. “Our actions have resulted in ongoing industry outperformance in our key markets, and we remain focused on leveraging the strength of our brands, scale and market positioning to recover strongly and drive future growth.”
But Barr admitted that “uncertainty remains regarding the potential for further improvement in the short term” in the hotels sector.
Positive cash flow in the period allowed the firm to improve its available liquidity to around $2.1 billion, up from $2 billion at the end of July.
Shares in IHG slid by 66p, or 1.55%, to 4,197p on Friday morning.
