ANALYST VIEWS: IS IHG WELL POSITIONED FOR GROWTH THIS YEAR?
WYN ELLIS | NUMIS
2011 preliminary results were encouraging with underlying earnings before interest and tax of $559m vs. consensus of $542m. Net debt at year end was just $538m and we believe that after the disposal of the [Intercontinental New York] Barclay as much as $1bn could be returned to shareholders.
KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN
In all, the group remains well positioned. The London Olympics is expected to further support the group’s geographical footprint while management confidence in the outlook has been underlined by a 15 per cent increase in the dividend payment. For now…market consensus opinion continues to denote a buy.
KARL BURNS | SHORE CAPITAL
Following today’s update, we have upgraded our full year 2012 forecasts by around five per cent although, despite the strong update, we retain our sell recommendation, highlighting the strong share price performance this year to date, limited visibility on future revenue streams and its full rating.