InterContinental Hotels Group has been confirmed as being eligible to access the government’s Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility.
This has enabled the hospitality giant to access £600 million of financial support amid the closure of hotels worldwide.
In a financing and trading update to the London Stock Exchange today, IHG said it now had access to $1.65 billion of cash on deposit and $660 million of bank facilities to take available liquidity to $2 billion.
The Holiday Inn and Regent parent company is next week expected to report a 25% slump in first quarter global revenue per available room (revpar), including a 55% slump in March.
IHG said: “Trading in Greater China continues to steadily improve, with only 12 out of 470 hotels now closed.
“In the US, 10% of our hotels are currently closed, demonstrating the resilience of our mainstream, franchised business and in EMEAA [Europe, Middle East and Africa], 50% of hotels are currently closed.
“Occupancy levels in comparable open hotels are currently in the low to mid 20% range across the business.”
A fuller update on first quarter trading is due to be issued on May 7.