IHG Markets GBP500m of hotels

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC 12 July 2004 12 July 2004 INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP PLACES A FURTHER £500M OF HOTELS ON THE MARKET FOR DISPOSAL InterContinental Hotels Group PLC ("IHG") announces that it has today placed the next tranche of hotels on the market with a net book value of approximately £500m. This is in line with the statement in IHG's first quarter results announcement on 27 May 2004 that as part of the continuation of its strategy of continuing to grow its management and franchise businesses and reducing asset ownership, it intended to dispose of approximately a further £500m of hotel assets. The hotels earmarked for disposal are predominantly in North America and include the InterContinental hotels in Miami and Chicago as well as other InterContinentals and hotels under the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands. These hotels are expected to generate approximately £15m of EBIT and £39m of EBITDA in 2004 and the intention is to retain management contracts. Hotels will only be sold providing satisfactory prices are achieved. In addition to the hotels placed on the market today, IHG continues actively to progress the sale of the £129m of hotels highlighted in the May 27 announcement. Of these, the Group has completed the sale of two hotels with proceeds of more than £17m - the Holiday Inn, Gatwick, UK and the Holiday Inn , Adelaide, Australia. Therefore, since demerger in April 2003 IHG has now sold a total of 28 hotels generating proceeds of more than £320m, with aggregate proceeds above net book value. Today's announcement takes the total net book value of hotels sold or being actively marketed to almost £1bn. An update on progress, potential further disposals and return of capital to shareholders will be provided at IHG's interim results presentation on September 9 2004. To date IHG has purchased £138m of shares as part of the current £250m buyback programme. This equates to approximately 27 million shares at an average price of around 512p. Commenting on the announcement Richard North, Chief Executive, IHG, said: "Today's announcement is a further step in the execution of our strategy of reducing the capital intensity of the business and enhancing return on capital. We will continue to grow our already large managed and franchise businesses by capitalising on the strength of our brands and proven franchise and hotel management skills." Appendix 1: Summary detail of disposals and properties for sale to date (since demerger) Sold to date: 28 hotels (4146 rooms), sale proceeds of £323m IC Mayfair, UK 289 rooms IC Central Park South, USA 208 rooms CP Midland Manchester, UK 303 rooms CP Vanuatu, Vanuatu 140 rooms HI South Bend, USA 229 rooms HI Sheffield West, UK 138 rooms HI Middlesborough/Teeside, UK 134 rooms HI Gatwick Crawley, UK 217 rooms HI Newcastle, Aus 72 rooms HI Adelaide, Aus 193 rooms HI Darwin, Aus 183 rooms Posthouse Epping, UK 79 rooms 16 Staybridge Suites, USA 1961rooms Currently on market: 13 hotels, net book value of £110m Comprising: IC Edinburgh, CP United Nations, New York , 11 others New to market today: 20 hotels, net book value £512m Comprising: IC Miami, IC Chicago, 18 other hotels Total number of hotels disposed and for sale: 61 hotels, £945m net book value For further information, please contact: Gavin Flynn, Investor Relations +44 (0) 1753 410 238 Dee Cayhill, Corporate Affairs +44 (0) 1753 410 423 NOTES TO EDITORS INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP PLC InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom (LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)) is the largest hotel company by number of rooms. InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, more than 3,500 hotels and 538,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world (www.ichotelsgroup.com). The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised and respected hotel brands including InterContinental(R) Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza(R) Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn (R) Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express(R), Staybridge Suites(R), Candlewood Suites(R), and Hotel Indigo(R), and also has a controlling interest in Britvic, the second largest soft drinks manufacturer in the UK. InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and reservations capability on the Internet - www.intercontinental.com for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn hotels, www.hiexpress.com for Holiday Inn Express hotels, www.staybridge.com for Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn hotels, and www.candlewoodsuites.com for Candlewood Suites, and for the Group's rewards programme, www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from InterContinental Hotels Group, visit our online Press Office at www.pressoffice.ihgplc.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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