Shares in InterContinental Hotels have moved up this morning after the group said operating profit had grown by 13% last year.
The company, which is in the process of relaunching its Holiday Inn business, has reported a slowdown in trading in recent months, however.
Here's chief executive Andrew Cosslett, from today's results statement.
The trading environment is very tough. The sharp deterioration that we reported on last November has continued into 2009 and we see no signs of improvement at this stage.
It has been clear for some time that 2009 will be a challenging year and we have taken action to prepare the business, including strict management of cash and a significant reduction in costs.
The actions we have taken to move the business to an asset light model with strong brands, scale advantage and leading technology and reservation systems position us well to grow market share in the testing times ahead.
The shares are up 1.7% at 483.75p.
