Keith Barr, IHG’s Chief Executive commented 2017 performances and announced future initiatives.

“We delivered a strong performance in 2017,” said Keith Barr, IHG’s Chief Executive regarding RevPAR growth by 2.7% and net growth in system size by 4.0%. It brought about an 8% increase in underlying operating profit and a 22% increase in underlying EPS.

According to him, this good result is partly due to having built a powerful and effective company in recent years which is fully asset light now.  

In addition, Keith Barr announces a series of initiatives focused on redeploying and refocusing resources: reinforce IHG’s loyalty programme and existing brands, continue to promote digital and technological innovation, improve the franchise proposition, and add new brands when potential for growth is discovered.