IHG shares fell. The company’s buyback price came in above where the stock closed on Monday.
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON:IHG) dropped 1.73% to $164.65. The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) slipped 0.26%, settling at 10,651.77.
- IHG bought 38,645 shares in its latest buyback, with the purchase made on July 3 at an average price of $166.4394. That was higher than the quote shown Monday.
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC posted a new consensus update July 6. The company-compiled forecast now puts FY26 adjusted EPS at 571 cents, with FY27 EPS at 649 cents.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON:IHG) closed Monday trading under the price it spent on its most recent share buybacks. That puts fresh focus on the group’s repurchase strategy and where the shares go from here.
The London Stock Exchange trades from 0800 to 1630 BST. IHG’s investor page listed the stock at $164.65 at 1649 BST, off 1.73% after the bell. The FTSE 100 finished 0.26% lower.
IHG said it bought 38,645 ordinary shares on July 3, paying between $164.55 and $167.80 each. The group paid an average of $166.4394, which puts the total spend at about $6.43 million. Monday’s price was 1.1% under that average. The shares will be cancelled, IHG said. After the move, the company had 148,855,326 ordinary shares in issue, not counting treasury shares.
Investors shouldn’t see a single buyback stat as a floor. It isn’t. What matters now is IHG’s expected EPS will need both profit growth and a lower share count. According to the July 6 consensus, basic weighted average shares are seen at 148 million for FY26 and 142 million in FY27, dropping from 154 million in FY25.
| Metric | FY25 actual | FY26 consensus | FY26 change | FY27 consensus | FY27 change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RevPAR YoY | 1.5% | 2.8% | up 1.3 pts | 2.5% | down 0.3 pts |
| Net system size growth | 4.0% | 4.7% | up 0.7 pts | 4.7% | no change |
| Revenue from reportable segments | $2.47 bln | $2.63 bln | up 6.7% | $2.79 bln | up 5.8% |
| Operating profit from reportable segments | $1.27 bln | $1.40 bln | up 10.3% | $1.51 bln | up 8.5% |
| Adjusted EPS | 501.3 cents | 571 cents | up 13.9% | 649 cents | up 13.7% |
| Basic weighted average shares | 154 mln | 148 mln | down 3.9% | 142 mln | down 4.1% |
At Monday’s close and with IHG’s new consensus numbers, the stock changes hands at roughly 28.8x FY26 adjusted EPS and 25.4x for FY27. There’s a clear gap between growth in operating profit and EPS, which puts the focus on the buyback. Analysts expect FY26 operating profit to be up 10.3%, but see adjusted EPS climbing 13.9%.
| Market and buyback read-through | Figure |
|---|---|
| IHG ended Monday at | $164.65 |
| IHG stock change Monday | -1.73% |
| FTSE 100 finished at | 10,651.77 |
| FTSE 100 daily shift | -0.26% |
| Most recent buyback avg price | $166.4394 |
| Monday’s price vs buyback avg | -1.1% |
| Buyback volume July 3 | 38,645 |
| Total spent on buyback | $6.43 mln |
IHG said Monday it has more than 200 hotels open in Canada, with almost 40 more in the pipeline. Six are due to open in the country before year-end. Jolyon Bulley, IHG’s Americas CEO, said the company is staying focused on putting “the right brands in the right places.” InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
The Canada update matters since it’s part of IHG’s biggest region by room count. The Americas held 528,696 rooms at the end of March, making up about 51% of IHG’s 1,035,589-room global total. But system growth in the Americas was 1.8% year over year in Q1, trailing 7.1% in EMEAA and 10.4% in Greater China.
IHG reported a 4.4% jump in global RevPAR for Q1 in its last update. Americas RevPAR climbed 3.6%, EMEAA gained 5.6%, and Greater China posted a 5.7% increase. CEO Elie Maalouf said “better than expected demand in most regions” supported the results. The company opened 82 new hotels over the quarter. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
That update also showed investors are focused on the key risk. IHG reported Middle East RevPAR dropped 26% in March and looks set for a sharper fall, around 50%, in April. The company also said bookings for May and June suggest EMEAA revenue should get better. The stock’s current multiple doesn’t offer much cushion if that recovery disappoints.
