Results round-up

First quarter revenue per available room at Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) rose 1.5% at constant exchange rates against a background of weak oil markets and earlier Easter which impacted hard in the Americas and Europe.

HG said it expected to reverse the Easter effect in the second quarter. The stronger dollar meant revenue per room fell 0.7% on an actual currency basis.

Net system size was up 2.7% year on year to 742,000 rooms across 5,028 hotels. More than 5,000 rooms, or 38 hotels, opened in the first quarter, which is historically Intercontinental's slowest quarter for openings.

The company removed 8,000 rooms, or 42 hotels, and expected removals to trend back to within the 2-3% range for the full year.

It signed 15,000 new rooms, the highest first quarter since 2008, including 11,000 in the Americas where signings were up almost 20% on the first quarter last year, and in Greater China where room signings were up almost 10%.

IHG's pipeline increased to 220,000 rooms, with 90% in its 10 priority markets and approximately 45% under construction.

Chief executive Richard Solomons said despite economic and political uncertainty in some markets, “current trading trends and the momentum behind our brands give us confidence for the rest of the year".

Advanced materials company Morgan Advanced Materials was trading in line with expectations in the first three months of the year, it reported on Friday, as investors mustered in central London for its annual general meeting.

The FTSE 250 firm’s board said trading was unchanged from its outlook in February, with the transition to a new global organisation structure now successfully completed as part of the implementation of the group’s strategy.

“Year-to-date sales on a constant currency basis are broadly flat compared to the first three months of last year,” the board confirmed in a statement.

“The thermal products division saw low single-digit sales growth against a relatively modest comparator period, driven by growth in Asia and Europe partially offset by a decline in the Americas.”

Morgan’s board said the growth was offset by a decline in the carbon and technical ceramics division, which saw drops across all its businesses in the quarter with a challenging end-market environment.

“Looking forward, our underlying trading expectations for the half-year and full-year remain unchanged, with challenging market conditions persisting and a strong prior year comparator in the second quarter,” the board explained.

“At current exchange rates, currency translation would provide a modest benefit to the reported results.”

Morgan Advanced Materials confirmed there were no significant financial events or transactions during the year to 5 May which resulted in a material impact on the group’s financial position.