InterContinental Hotels Group lost $82 million before taxes in Q2, and CEO Andrew Cosslett warned that recovery for the industry remains a ways off.
"Business travelers remain elusive," Cosslett said in releasing the earnings. "We can't see anything in our numbers at the moment to suggest we've hit the bottom."
Revenue per available room totaled $63.03 in the second quarter, an 18.6% decrease.
Occupancy fell 7.6 percentage points, to 61.4%. Average daily rate declined 8.6%, to $102.65.
Cosslett said that the rest of this year was going to be very challenging, and "it could be a couple of years before we get back to the levels we were at."
IHG said several impairment charges and exceptional expenses contributed to the $82 million loss.
Four impairment charges totaled $175 million. Three of the charges arose from revisions of expected fee revenue given the current economic climate.
IHG was hit with another impairment charge when it had to reclassify four North American hotels as continuing operations. The company previously classified the hotels as discontinued operations because they were "held for sale," but IHG said selling the properties was "no longer considered highly probable in the next 12 months."
IHG also absorbed a $9 million expense tied to the Holiday Inn relaunch. Severance costs related to layoffs totaled $4 million.
Excluding exceptional items, IHG's second-quarter operating profit was down 34.8%, from $164 million, to $107 million.