What’s going on with Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) shares?

Highlights

• Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC reached an occupancy level of about 60 per cent in Q3 2021.
• IHG’s shares declined over 3 per cent, and it became the second-highest faller on the FTSE 100 index.

The hotel sector would require a lot of support to survive the winter season, according to an industry body, the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF).

Recent data from a hotel benchmarking company, STR, found that hotel occupancy rates fell by over 12 per cent in September from the two months prior rates in Northern Ireland.

The NIHF also estimates average occupancy levels to drop to 45 per cent in the coming months.

The news comes a day after the UK industry body, UK Hospitality, warned the industry could not survive a second lost Christmas due to rising covid-19 cases.

In view of this, let us take a closer look at 2 FTSE listed stocks in the travel and leisure sector and their investment prospects:

Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC (LON: IHG)

FTSE 100 index listed firm, Intercontinental Hotels Group, is a UK based multinational hospitality company. It owns hotel chains - Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and others.

The company reported in its Q3 2021 trading update today that its group revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up 66 per cent from the year before.

Also, it’s Q3 2021 RevPAR was still down 21 per cent from its pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

The company attributed its recovery to strong demand in the summer in the US region, where some hotels saw its occupancy rate reach 2019 levels. The group said it reached an occupancy level of about 60 per cent in Q3 2021.

Traders remained concerned with the rising Covid cases and murmurs of another lockdown situation. However, the company has stated that it is vigilant to fluctuating Covid restrictions in different markets and is optimistic about the demand.

Following the updates, IHG shares became the second-highest faller on the FTSE 100 index.

(Image Source: Refinitiv)

IHG’s shares were trading at GBX 4,838.00, down by 3.16 per cent on 22 October at 12:26 PM BST. Meanwhile the FTSE 100 index was at 7,228.80, down by 0.54 per cent.

The group’s market cap stands at £9,153.49 million, and its one-year return stands at 14.35 per cent as of 22 October 21. After today’s fall, the share price has turned flat for the month and is around 23 per cent more volatile than its benchmark index with a beta of 1.226.