Return of funds programme
In the year, IHG paid a £497m special dividend, completed a second
£250m share buyback and substantially completed a third £250m
share buyback. Since March 2004, IHG has returned £2.7bn to
shareholders.
On 20 February 2007, a further £850m return of funds was
announced, comprising a £700m special dividend with share
consolidation and a £150m share buyback.
Management and organisation
In 2006, there were no significant changes to the management
and organisation of the Group. During the year, the Group focused
on realising benefits from the prior year global realignment of
functions, including Finance, Human Resources and Information
Technology.
The following announcements relating to members of the Executive
Committee were made during 2006:
• the appointment of Tom Conophy in January 2006 as Chief
Information Officer (CIO), a new position created to develop the
global technology strategy across IHG’s brands, leveraged by
his 25 years of experience in the Information Technology (IT)
industry; and
• the retirement of Richard Hartman, President, EMEA, effective
from September 2007.