InterContinental Hotels Posts 11 percent Profit Led by China and US

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG), the world's largest hotel group by room count, recently declared its operating profit results for 2012. The company announced that it had accounted a 10 percent actual operating profit for the year. The hotel group's growing operations in China, U.S.and Europe played a major role in its profits .

In the 2012 financial results report, IHG stated that its total revenue per hotel room availability had increased by more than 5 percent raking in returns of 1.8 billion. Fee revenue also increased by a good 6.8 percent.

The percentage of profit was highest in the region of Greater China, which was 21 percent. The revenue per available room was also up at 5.4 percent.

The U.S. also performed well despite the fiscal cliff and the presidential elections. The region had recorded the highest increase in system size (the number of rooms operating under the brand name) summed at 2 percent.

While revenue through its European operations spiked up 8 percent, revenue per available hotel room in Asia, Africa and the Middle East grew by 4.9 percent.

On the whole, IHG recorded a 2.7 percent increase in the room count, which was fueled by massive expansion. The group launched around 226 new hotels and two new brand names - HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts and EVEN Hotels- in 2012.

"Our continued growth is based upon our unique close relationship with our hotel owners, who choose our brands and work with us to deliver great guest experiences.  Our increasing scale and focus on reducing costs has allowed us to both reinvest in the business and achieve solid margin progression, resulting in double-digit profit and dividend growth." Richard Solomons, CEO of IHG, said in the statement.

InterContinental Hotel Group, headquartered in U.K., is also preparing to celebrate its 10-year-anniversary in the hotel industry in April.

To add to its existing aggressive expansion plans, IHG has just signed a deal to build 13 hotels in India. Currently, IHG has around 14 hotels across 10 cities in India. It plans to expand into cities like Goa, Pune and Ahmedabad.