LONDON, June 23, 2026, 14:05 BST
c shares slipped 0.1% to $169.45 as of 13:46 BST on Tuesday, still trading about 1.6% under their 52-week high of $172.20. The FTSE 100 was down 0.7% in morning trade, with interest-rate worries weighing. IHG’s London shares have been priced in U.S. dollars since January 2.
IHG held steady after fresh news. The company signed two long-term hotel deals, adding to its development pipeline. IHG also bought more shares back, which affects per-share numbers right away.
IHG has struck a deal with El Corte Inglés to bring the Kimpton brand to Madrid, marking its first Kimpton hotel in the Spanish capital. The 106-room site, set for Barrio Salamanca, is expected to open in mid-2030. “Spain is a cornerstone of our European growth strategy,” said Willemijn Geels, IHG’s Europe development vice president. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
IHG will manage a 115-room Holiday Inn in Mathura, India, slated for an early 2030 opening. The company now runs 52 hotels in India and is planning 98 more to open in the next three to five years. “Mathura is a compelling market for growth,” said Sudeep Jain, managing director for South West Asia. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
The two projects will add 221 rooms, or under 0.1% of IHG’s 343,189-room development pipeline. Their weight is more about where and what they add. Madrid gives IHG another higher-fee luxury and lifestyle site. Mathura gives IHG more reach into India’s growing domestic market.
IHG bought 20,000 shares on June 22, paying an average of $170.1432 each, according to a filing Tuesday. The price fell between $168.70 and $171.15. IHG plans to cancel these shares, which will take the ordinary shares outstanding down to 149,223,876, not counting treasury shares.
IHG is moving ahead with its $950 million buyback set for 2026. The company bought back 7.6 million shares in 2025, spending $892 million. That keeps up the pace of returning capital to shareholders in recent years, adding to dividends.
But warning signs are still out there. First-quarter RevPAR rose 4.4%, topping the 3.3% analysts expected. RevPAR in the Middle East dropped 2%, and then slid about 50% in April. The quarter’s decline was sharper than at Hilton or Marriott. CEO Elie Maalouf said gains elsewhere “more than offset” the drop, but AlphaValue’s Yi Zhong flagged that IHG’s business travel focus may limit gains versus competitors. Ongoing Middle East troubles or a jump in borrowing costs could still weigh on travel and fee growth. Reuters
IHG has its first-half results coming up on August 11. Investors want to see if U.S. and China demand is still holding up, whether the Middle East has steadied, and if signed hotels are getting closer to opening without the need for bigger capital outlays.
