On Tuesday, the world’s largest hotel group by rooms, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) revealed that its first-quarter profit has increased by 28%. The hotel has almost 650,000 rooms in the Americas. InterContinental also owns hotel brands such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo and Centra.

CEO of InterContinental Hotels (IHG. L) Andrew Cosslett announced unexpectedly that he would step down from his position as of June 30, and that Finance Director of the company Richard Solomons would replace him in the role. IHG. L, the largest hotelier in the world, said that there would be no change in the strategy of the company once Cosslett stepped down.

The world's biggest hotelier, InterContinental Hotels (IHG. L) reported a recovery in the hotel market helped by the return of the business traveller as it beat forecasts with a 22% rise in first-half profit.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC has reported a fall of 38 percent in profits for the first half of the current year, compelling management to resort to additional cost-cutting measures.

The posted results show that group's operating profit took a dive to settle at $179 million during the first half of 2009, down from $291 million for the same period a year earlier.