InterContinental Hotels Q3 Profit Down 25 Pct

LONDON (AP) — InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, operator of Holiday Inn hotels, on Tuesday reported a 25 percent drop in third-quarter net profit as it continued to cut its rates due to intense competition and weak demand.

InterContinental, the world's largest hotel company by room count, posted a net profit of $68 million, compared to $91 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 19 percent to $401 million.

The market took heart from pretax, pre-exceptional profits of $111 million, about a third higher than analysts' consensus but below last year's $125 million.

Revenue was down 19 percent in the Americas to $206 million; revenue in Europea/Middle East/Africa fell 25 percent and in Asia/Pacific it was down 13 percent.

The result followed a net loss of $56 million in the second quarter, when the company wrote off $162 million from the value of its assets.

Simon French, analyst at Panmure Gordon & Co., said current trading was encouraging, with revenue per available room down 13.5 percent from a year ago compared to a drop of 15.2 percent in the third quarter.