Trading Update

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
24 April 2003

                       InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
                                 24 April 2003
                          Trading update and guidance

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC ("IHG" or the "Company") today provides a
trading update and guidance in its first announcement since separation. The
announcement covers:

     - trading in the three months to 31 March 2003
     - an update on the cost reduction programme
     - guidance to assist with modelling the year to 31 December 2003 including 
       the effect of the reopening of InterContinental Le Grand Hotel Paris
     - further details of IHG's reporting calendar as first outlined in the 
       Listing Particulars.

Trading update for the three months to 31 March 2003

The threat of and subsequent war in Iraq and the sustained weakness of the
global economy have continued to have an adverse effect on global travel and
with it IHG's revenue in the three months to 31 March 2003. These factors have
led to the erosion of the encouraging trading trends seen in the three months to
31 December 2002 and have particularly affected  our hotels in EMEA. This
difficult trading environment was further exacerbated by the occurrence of the
SARS virus in the last two weeks of the period.

In addition, the Company experienced pressure on hotel margins, largely due to
the fact that growth in revenue was occupancy led.  As a result of all these
influences profits in the period, as in the previous 3 months, were
substantially lower than last year.

Richard North, Chief Executive Officer of IHG said "Despite having to contend
with some of the worst conditions the industry has ever encountered, the
benefits of our wide range of business models and broad geographical
distribution are clear.  While EMEA is finding the environment tough, our
Americas business is relatively resilient.  Meanwhile we are making good
progress with our two key initiatives - to reduce both costs and asset
intensity."

RevPAR variance against last year

Americas                                           January           February              March
  InterContinental O & L                             0.1%               1.4%                3.7%
  Crowne Plaza Brands                               -3.3%              -2.7%               -1.9%
  Holiday Inn Brands                                -0.6%              -3.2%               -2.4%
  Express Brands                                     1.2%              -1.4%               -0.2%
EMEA
  InterContinental O & L                            -2.5%              -5.7%               -9.6%
  HI UK Regions                                      2.8%              -1.1%               -0.1%
  HI UK London                                      14.6%              -3.3%               -9.2%

In the Americas, our owned and leased InterContinental hotels continued to
outperform their relative markets reflecting the benefits of our refurbishment
programme and the completion of the InterContinental Houston's phased reopening.

Our midscale franchise business performed relatively well with Holiday Inn
Express continuing to outperform, and Holiday Inn performing in line with their
relative markets. This demonstrates the strength and resilience of our midscale
franchise business and its strong presence in the 'drive to' market in the US.

In EMEA, trading in our owned and leased upscale hotels continued to be
adversely impacted by the reduction in the number of US guests. Holiday Inn UK
continued to outperform its relative market, benefiting from the increased
revenue investment which has taken place. Overall however, in EMEA, the economic
environment and geo-political factors described earlier, combined with the
increased revenue investment, has meant that profits are still substantially
down on the equivalent period last year.

Performance in the Asia Pacific region remained strong until the emergence of
the SARS virus which has severely affected occupancy particularly in the
InterContinental Hong Kong.

Soft drinks

Turnover in Britvic Soft Drinks rose by over 5 per cent in the 16 weeks to 12
April 2003. Britvic's leading brands have continued to perform well, with Pepsi,
Robinsons and Tango in particular growing market share in the same period.

Update on cost reduction programme

We are making good progress on the reduction of at least $100m of annual
on-going overheads against the budgeted cost base for the fiscal year to 30
September 2003. We are on target to achieve an annualised run rate of savings of
at least $75m by the end of calendar 2003, and actual savings of at least $40m
in the year to 31 December 2003.

In excess of 50 per cent of the savings will be achieved through headcount
reductions.  We estimate that there will be up to 800 redundancies from a global
corporate staff of 2,600.  These redundancies span all levels of seniority with
approximately 30% of senior management roles being removed.  Over 150 employees
have already left our business. In addition, over 200 have been notified that
their roles will be made redundant.

As we announced, the Six Continents Group's London head office will close in
September 2003. IHG's corporate headquarters will be consolidated with the EMEA
regional offices in Windsor, which will achieve a cost saving of approximately
$9m per annum.  A number of other small satellite offices will also be closed
during the next few months.

Guidance

The following guidance, in relation to the financial results for calendar 2003
is given to assist with modelling forecasts:

-   IHG anticipates a charge of certain exceptional costs arising from the 
    separation and cost reduction programme:

      - The total cost of the separation and defence costs for Six Continents 
        Group will be approximately £129m. Of this figure £97m will be shown as 
        an exceptional cost. Of the £129m, £28m relates to facility fees. IHG's 
        share of these fees is £13m which will be amortised over the life of the 
        facilities and charged in the interest line.

      - The premiums paid of £135m on the repayment of the former group's £250m 
        10 3/8 per cent debenture and EMTN loans will also be shown as an 
        exceptional item in the Six Continents Group results.

      - We expect to incur costs of approximately $100m relating to the delivery 
        of the cost reduction programme.

-   April 14th saw the reopening on schedule of InterContinental Le Grand Hotel 
    Paris. The opening is phased with the full room count coming back on stream 
    in late August 2003.  From the last full year of opening in 2001 to the 
    first full year of closing there was a $40m profit swing.

-   As an outcome of management's focus to reduce the capital intensity of IHG, 
    the planned capital expenditure in the year to 30 September 2003 will be 
    approximately £400m, £50m less than previously indicated.  The capital 
    expenditure for the year to 31 December 2003 will be approximately £375m.

-   As reported in our trading statement on 1 October 2002, we committed 
    investment in marketing and IT expenditure of $30m in the year to 
    30 September 2003.  Of this amount some $25m has been spent in the six 
    months to 31 March. This cost will be substantially lower going forward.

-   We expect to incur additional insurance costs of at least $10m in calendar 
    2003 against the prior year.

-   Dividends received from Felcor were $3m in the six months to 31 March 2003. 
    Felcor announced on 4 February 2003 that it does not expect to pay further 
    dividends until there is a 2-4 per cent positive RevPAR environment.

-   We expect the net debt position of IHG at 31 December 2003 to be around 
    £1.2bn. As expected, the credit rating of IHG has been confirmed at 
    investment grade, with Standard and Poor's rating the Group at BBB and 
    Moody's at Baa2.

-   We expect the effective tax rate for IHG to be no more than 25 per cent for 
    the calendar year.

Reporting timetable

Set out below is the proposed timetable of announcements for IHG following the
decision to change its accounting year end to 31 December from 30 September:


22 May 2003        Results for the six months to 31 March 2003:

                     - IHG revenue and operating profit for each of the quarters 
                       to 31 December 2002 and 31 March 2003.
                     - IHG calendar 2002 proforma profit and loss account and 
                       balance sheet.
                     - Six Continents Group first half results.


September 2003     Interim results for the three months and six months to 
                   30 June 2003.

November 2003      Results for the three months and nine months to 
                   30 September 2003.

March 2004         Preliminary results for the three months and 15 months to 
                   31 December 2003.  IHG will also provide an unaudited 
                   calendar 2003 proforma profit and loss account.

For the year to 31 December 2004, our first 12 month reporting period, we expect
to report interim results in early September 2004 and preliminary results in
early March 2005.




                                                                   REVPAR GROWTH
FY03 v's FY02

Americas                                            January          February             March
  InterContinental O & L                              0.1%             1.4%                3.7%
  Crowne Plaza Brands                                -3.3%            -2.7%               -1.9%
  Holiday Inn Brands                                 -0.6%            -3.2%               -2.4%
  Express Brands                                      1.2%            -1.4%               -0.2%
EMEA
  InterContinental O & L                             -2.5%            -5.7%               -9.6%
  HI UK Regions                                       2.8%            -1.1%               -0.1%
  HI UK London                                       14.6%            -3.3%               -9.2%

FY03 v's FY01

Americas                                            January          February             March
  InterContinental O&L                              -10.9%            -6.2%              -11.4%
  Crowne Plaza Brands                               -21.5%           -14.4%              -17.0%
  Holiday Inn Brands                                -13.8%           -11.3%              -13.4%
  Express Brands                                     -2.6%            -1.1%               -4.3%
EMEA
  InterContinental O&L                              -18.0%           -18.6%              -27.1%
  HIUK Regions                                      - 4.9%            -6.6%               -6.8%
  HIUK London                                       -17.4%           -24.8%              -30.6%


FY03 v's FY02                                                    OCCUPANCY %pts GROWTH

Americas                                            January          February             March
  InterContinental O&L                                1.2%             6.8%                6.6%
  Crowne Plaza Brands                                -0.1%             1.0%                0.1%
  Holiday Inn Brands                                 -0.4%            -0.9%               -1.3%
  Express Brands                                      0.1%            -0.7%               -0.3%
EMEA
  InterContinental O&L                                2.6%             1.3%               -2.8%
  HIUK Regions                                        1.1%            -0.6%                1.0%
  HIUK London                                         9.4%            -1.3%               -6.2%

FY03 v's FY01

Americas                                            January          February             March
  InterContinental O&L                                4.1%             9.2%                4.8%
  Crowne Plaza Brands                                -5.7%            -3.1%               -5.9%
  Holiday Inn Brands                                 -4.8%            -4.3%               -6.4%
  Express Brands                                     -1.3%            -0.8%               -2.5%
EMEA
  InterContinental O&L                               -4.0%            -6.8%              -12.6%
  HIUK Regions                                       -3.9%            -4.5%               -5.5%
  HIUK London                                        -5.5%            -8.8%              -14.2%

FY03 v's FY02                                   AVERAGE RATE GROWTH

Americas                                            January          February             March
  InterContinental O&L                               -2.0%            -8.6%               -6.8%
  Crowne Plaza Brands                                -3.0%            -4.2%               -2.0%
  Holiday Inn Brands                                  0.2%            -1.6%               -0.3%
  Express Brands                                      0.9%            -0.2%                0.4%
EMEA
  InterContinental O&L                               -7.1%            -7.8%               -5.2%
  HIUK Regions                                        0.8%            -0.2%               -1.7%
  HIUK London                                        -1.0%            -1.4%               -0.7%

FY03 v's FY01

Americas                                            January          February             March
  InterContinental O&L                              -17.2%           -18.7%              -17.8%
  Crowne Plaza Brands                               -13.0%           -10.2%               -9.2%
  Holiday Inn Brands                                 -5.3%            -4.8%               -4.2%
  Express Brands                                      0.0%             0.3%               -0.4%
EMEA
  InterContinental O&L                              -12.0%            -9.4%              -11.2%
  HIUK Regions                                        2.0%            -0.1%                1.2%
  HIUK London                                       -10.9%           -15.1%              -15.6%


                                  --- ends ---


For further information, please contact:

Jo Guano, Investor Relations                         020 7409 8134
Dee Cayhill, Corporate Affairs                       020 7409 8101
Fiona Antcliffe, Brunswick                           020 7404 5959

Note to Editors

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom (LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG
(ADRs)), owns, manages, leases or franchises more than 3,300 hotels and 515,000
guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world
(www.ichotelsgroup.com). The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised and
respected hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza
Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites, and
also has a controlling interest in Britvic, the second largest soft drinks
manufacturer in the UK.

InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and reservations capability on
the Internet - www.intercontinental.com for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts,
www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, www.holiday-inn.com for
Holiday Inn hotels, www.hiexpress.com for Express by Holiday Inn hotels,
www.staybridge.com for Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn hotels and, for the
Group's rewards programme, www.priorityclub.com

For the latest news from InterContinental Hotels Group, visit our online Press
Office at www.pressoffice.ichotelsgroup.com.


                      This information is provided by RNS
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