Market report: InterContinental hits high after Donald Trump-powered lift
Investors started the New Year as they finished 2016, by checking in to InterContinental Hotels, whose shares surged to new highs on Tuesday after an upgrade from analysts at Barclays.
They argued that the Holiday Inns owner will benefit from Trumponomics and a recovery from the US economy following Donald Trump’s election as US president.
“We consider IHG to be the best play in the sector on a potential rebound in US growth… as well as potential tax cuts,” said lead analyst Vicki Stern.
She upgraded to overweight from equal weight, lifting the shares by 142p, or 4%, to a record high of 3780p.
Any IHG suitors, rumoured last year to include Chinese insurer Anbang, will likely have to pay in excess of £10 billion to win over its shareholders, who watched the value of their shares soar last year.
The high for IHG coincides with a law preventing Londoners from renting out their homes on Airbnb, a major threat to traditional hotels operators, for more than 90 days a year.
Following in IHG’s footsteps, the FTSE 100 marched to new heights, breaking 7200 for the first time as traders returned to their desks after the Christmas break. The index then lost some ground but was still up 31.66 points at 7174.49.
Consort Medical slipped 69p, or 6.5%, to 991p after British American Tobacco pulled the plug on its supply deal for its Voke nicotine inhaler.
A joint venture with BBA Aviation’s aircraft management arm sent Gama Aviation shares soaring 16p, or 12%, higher to 152p. The deal merges Gama’s US aircraft management business with BBA’s business. BBA shares rose 2.3p at 285.6p.
XLMedia was up 3p to 96p after buying Canadian credit cards comparison site Greedyrates for $9.3 million (£7.6 million) in cash. It is the AIM-listed digital marketing company’s first financial services deal.
