InterContinental Hotels Posts Higher 2014 Profit, Lifts Dividend

reported a rise in its 2014 profit and lifted its dividend by 10%. InterContinental's adjusted operating profit for the year climbed to $648 million, versus $591 million in 2013, while net income surged to $391 million from $372 million. Earnings per ordinary share surged to 156.4 cents versus 139.3 cents. Its revenue slipped to $1.86 billion from $1.90 billion, while revenue climbed 6% on an underlying basis. Global revenue per available room climbed 6.1%. InterContinental's adjusted pretax profit dropped to $571 million from $595 million, while reported operating profit declined 3% to $651 million. InterContinental's raised its dividend to 77.0 cents, from 70.0 cents last year. In the Americas, revenue fell 5% to $871 million, while revenue slipped 7% in Europe to $374 million. In Asia, Middle East & Africa, revenue rose 5%, while revenue in Greater China gained 3%. Richard Solomons, Chief Executive of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC said, "2014 was an excellent year for IHG as we delivered against our long-term winning strategy for high quality growth. We achieved strong RevPAR performance of 6.1%, and our best net system size growth since 2009 of 3.4%, increasing our operating profit on an underlying2 basis by 10%." InterContinental's shares declined 2.49% to close at $40.34 on Friday.