SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington
DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT
OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 AND 15d-16
OF
THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For 07
May 2026
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
(Registrant's
name)
1
Windsor Dials, Arthur Road, Windsor, SL4 1RS, United
Kingdom
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form
20-F
Form 40-F
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EXHIBIT
INDEX
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99.1
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1st
Quarter Results dated 07 May 2026
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Exhibit
No: 99.1
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
2026 First
Quarter Trading Update
7 May 2026
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Very strong Q1 trading performance with better than expected Global
RevPAR growth of +4.4%.
Continued development momentum, with underlying signings and
openings ahead of last year.
Confident of achieving consensus growth forecasts and profit
expectations.
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Highlights
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● Q1 global RevPAR +4.4%,
with Americas +3.6%,
EMEAA +5.6% and
Greater China +5.7%
● Q1 global rooms revenue on a
comparable basis strongest
for Groups +7% and Business +6%, with Leisure
+1%
● Average daily
rate +2.0% and
occupancy +1.5%pts
● Gross system size
growth +6.6% YOY, +1.4% YTD;
opened 14.9k rooms
(82 hotels)
in Q1, +2%
more than the same period last year
● Net system size
growth +5.0% YOY, +0.9% YTD;
global system of 1,036k rooms
(7,014 hotels)
● Signed 21.4k rooms
(163 hotels)
in Q1, +6%
more than the same period last year when excluding the Ruby brand
acquisition in the comparable period; global pipeline
of 343k rooms (2,347 hotels), +3% YOY
● $240m
of 2026's $950m share buyback programme completed to date, reducing
the share count by 1.1%
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Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, IHG Hotels & Resorts,
said:
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"With thanks to our teams we delivered a very strong Q1 trading
performance, benefiting from our diverse global footprint and
better than expected demand in most regions around the
world. Global RevPAR grew +4.4%, with notable
strength in the US on top of good growth this time last year, and
further acceleration in Greater China following a return to growth
in the prior quarter. Our diverse EMEAA region also performed well
despite challenges from the conflict in the Middle East, where we
continue to do all we can to support our guests, teams and
owners.
We are proud to have reached the milestone of more than 7,000
hotels, having opened 82 properties during Q1. Strong
pipeline momentum continued with the signing
of 163 hotels, which was ahead of 2025. This included the
first signing for our new Premium brand Noted Collection in EMEAA
and the arrival of our Essentials conversion brand Garner into
Greater China. Demand for quick-to-market conversions to IHG's
brands and enterprise platform continues to be high, representing
35% of rooms opened and 53% of signings in the
quarter.
Looking ahead, our comparable on-the-books global revenue for Q2
indicates continued growth, with the impact of the Middle East
conflict and some wider disruption to international travel flows
expected to be more than offset by increases in demand elsewhere.
Our business model is strategically diversified and resilient in
capturing demand across geographies, chain scales and the different
stay occasions of business, leisure and groups travel, as well as
being heavily weighted to domestic and intra-regional travel. While
still early, our confidence of achieving full year consensus growth
forecasts and profit expectations is underpinned by the strength of
our performance year-to-date. We are delivering on our strategic
priorities and growth algorithm, which capitalises on the scale and
capabilities of IHG's platform, our leading positions and the
attractive long-term structural growth drivers for both demand and
supply across our markets."
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Regional performance
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Americas
Q1 RevPAR grew +3.6% for
the region and was up +3.4% in
the US. Notably,
this came on top of strong comparatives this time last year and
with continued momentum expected. Rate
was up +2.0% year-on-year for the region in the
first quarter of 2026, and
occupancy increased +0.9%pts to 63.6%. By
demand driver, Q1 rooms revenue on a comparable basis was strongest
in Groups and Business, up +9% and +6% respectively, while Leisure
was broadly flat compared with 2025. With a continuation of good
trading in the second quarter to date, the rolling 8 weeks to
Saturday 2 May in aggregate, which normalises for the timing shift
of holiday periods within March and April, indicated a further
improvement in RevPAR growth to that reported for the first
quarter.
Gross system growth was +3.5% YOY
and +0.7% YTD,
with 3.5k rooms
(24 hotels)
opened in the quarter, broadly
similar to the strong increase in room openings achieved in the
comparable period last year. Net system growth
was +1.8% YOY
and flat YTD, both
stronger than the performance this time last year. There
were 5.9k rooms
(65 hotels) added
to the pipeline in the quarter, representing +32% more rooms signed
than the comparable period. These included 23 hotel signings across
the Holiday Inn Brand Family, and 22 across our extended stay
brands. Garner, our midscale conversion brand, made further strong
progress, and now exceeds 100 open and pipeline hotels in the
region and almost 200 globally. We also achieved the debut signing
for the Ruby brand in the US.
EMEAA
We achieved another quarter of strong demand for this diverse
region, despite the significant disruption to operations in the
Middle East caused by conflict from the start of March. Q1
RevPAR was up +5.6%, though growth moderated through
the quarter, easing from +7% in the first two months to around +2%
in March. Rate was up +2.2% for the quarter and
occupancy increased +2.1%pts to 67.8%. The
intra-quarter RevPAR deceleration was driven by the Middle East
sub-region, which accounts for 5% of IHG's system size globally and
19% of EMEAA. Middle East RevPAR moved from growth of +9% in the
first two months to a decline of 26% in March, resulting in a
decrease of 2% for Q1 overall. For the other major geographic
markets within the EMEAA region, Q1 RevPAR grew +3.0% in the UK,
+5.4% in Continental Europe and was up +11.0% in East Asia &
Pacific. To date in Q2, the Middle East trading performance has
moved to an estimated RevPAR decline closer to 50%, and together
with some elements of broader impact that lessened the growth rates
elsewhere in the wider region, has led to RevPAR down approximately
7% for EMEAA overall in April. An improvement in trading is
indicated by EMEAA's comparable on-the-books revenue for May and
June.
Gross system growth was +8.0% YOY
and +1.3% YTD,
with 3.9k rooms
(21 hotels)
opened in the quarter. Net system growth
was +7.1% YOY
and +1.0% YTD.
There were 7.1k rooms
(46 hotels)
added to the pipeline. Ongoing
strength in attracting conversions throughout the region led to 17
signings across the Garner, voco and Vignette Collection brands, as
well as the debut signing for the recently launched Noted
Collection brand. There were three further signings for the Ruby
brand in Europe, taking its global open and pipeline estate to 40
hotels in total.
Greater China
RevPAR growth accelerated in Q1 to +5.7%, after
returning to growth in the prior quarter, supported in the
latest period by strong leisure demand over the Chinese New Year
festive period and an improvement in Business travel. Rate
was up +1.8% and
occupancy increased +2.0%pts to 53.6%. Tier
1 cities saw RevPAR up +6.4%, whilst Tier 2-4 cities
were up +2.9%.
Development activity has continued at record momentum. Gross system
growth was +12.9% YOY and +3.6% YTD,
with 7.5k rooms (37 hotels) opened in the
quarter. This was +73% more rooms than the same quarter last
year and included the milestone of surpassing 900 open hotels in
the region. Net system growth was +10.4% YOY
and +3.4% YTD. There were 8.4k rooms
(52 hotels) added to the pipeline, similar to the strong
first quarter last year. These included the first four signings for
the Garner brand following its recent launch in the region, one of
which also opened in the quarter.
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Share buyback progress
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As announced at the time of reporting our 2025 full year results on
17 February, a new $950m share buyback programme is returning
surplus capital to shareholders in 2026. This follows the $900m
programme in 2025, $800m in 2024, $750m in 2023 and the $500m
programme announced in 2022, which already reduced the total number
of voting rights in the Company in these years by 4.8%, 4.6%, 6.1%
and 5.0%, respectively. The 2026 programme is 25% complete with
$240m cumulatively spent to date, repurchasing 1.7 million shares.
The 2026 programme to date has therefore reduced the total number
of voting rights in the Company by a further 1.1% to 150.0 million
as at market close on Wednesday 6 May 2026.
The $950m share buyback programme, together with the anticipated
sustainable growth in ordinary dividend payments which IHG has
increased at a rate of 10% a year for each of the last four years,
would result in over $1.2bn being returned to shareholders in 2026.
This is equivalent to 5.8% of IHG's $21.3bn market capitalisation
at the start of 2026, and 5.6% of IHG's most recent $21.9bn market
capitalisation.
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For further information, please contact:
Investor
Relations: Stuart Ford (+44 (0)7823 828
739); Kate Carpenter (+44 (0)7825 655 702); Joe Simpson (+44
(0)7976 862 072)
Media
Relations:
Neil Maidment (+44 (0)7970 668 250); Mike Ward (+44 (0)7795 257
407)
Conference call for analysts and institutional
investors:
Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, and Michael Glover, Chief
Financial Officer, will host a conference call commencing at 9:00am
(London time) today, 7 May 2026. This can be listened to
via www.ihgplc.com/en/investors/results-and-presentations.
Analysts and institutional investors wishing to ask questions are
required to register at the IHG Hotels &
Resorts 2026 First Quarter Trading Update Q&A Registration
Page (https://registrations.events/direct/LON518438192). Once
registered, a calendar invite will be sent including dial-in
details for the Q&A and a unique passcode. Press *1 to ask a
question, *1 again to withdraw your question, or *0 for operator
assistance. For any technical issues during the webcast please
reach out to issuerservices@lseg.com.
An archived replay is expected to be available within 24 hours and
will remain available, accessed at www.ihgplc.com/en/investors/results-and-presentations.
Website:
The full release and supplementary data will be available
on www.ihgplc.com/en/investors/results-and-presentations from
7:00am (London time) on 7 May 2026.
Appendix 1: RevPARa movement
summary at constant exchange rates (CER)
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Q1 2026 vs 2025
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RevPAR
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ADR
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Occupancy
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Global
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+4.4%
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+2.0%
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+1.5%pts
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Americas
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+3.6%
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+2.0%
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+0.9%pts
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EMEAA
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+5.6%
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+2.2%
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+2.1%pts
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Greater
China
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+5.7%
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+1.8%
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+2.0%pts
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Appendix 2: RevPARa movement
at CER vs actual exchange rates (AER)
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Q1 2026 vs 2025
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CER (as above)
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AER
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Difference
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Global
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+4.4%
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+7.1%
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+2.7%pts
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Americas
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+3.6%
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+4.5%
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+0.9%pts
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EMEAA
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+5.6%
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+11.0%
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+5.4%pts
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Greater
China
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+5.7%
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+10.5%
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+4.8%pts
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Appendix 3: System and pipeline summary of Q1 2026 YTD
and YOY growths, and closing positions (rooms)
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System
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Pipeline
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Openings
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Removals
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Net
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Total
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YTD%
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YOY%
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Signings
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Total
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Global
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14,867
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(5,455)
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9,412
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1,035,589
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+0.9%
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+5.0%
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21,431
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343,189
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Americas
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3,472
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(3,970)
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(498)
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528,696
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-0.1%
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+1.8%
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5,913
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106,505
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EMEAA
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3,861
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(1,080)
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2,781
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290,383
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+1.0%
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+7.1%
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7,123
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118,700
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Greater China
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7,534
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(405)
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7,129
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216,510
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+3.4%
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+10.4%
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8,395
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117,984
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a. RevPAR
(revenue per available room), ADR (average daily rate) and
occupancy are on a comparable basis, based on comparability as at
31 March 2026 and includes hotels that have traded in all months in
both the current and the prior year. The principal exclusions in
deriving these measures are new openings, properties under major
refurbishments and removals. See 'Use of key performance measures
and non-GAAP measures' in IHG's full year and half year results
announcements for further information on the
definitions.
About IHG Hotels & Resorts:
IHG Hotels & Resorts (tickers:
LON:IHG for Ordinary Shares; NYSE:IHG for ADRs) is a global
hospitality company, with a purpose to provide True Hospitality for
Good.
With a family of 21 hotel brands and IHG
One Rewards, one of the world's
largest hotel loyalty programmes with over 160 million members, IHG
has more than one million rooms across 7,000 open hotels in over
100 countries, and a development pipeline of a further 2,300
properties.
●
Luxury & Lifestyle: Six
Senses, Regent, InterContinental, Vignette
Collection, Kimpton, Hotel
Indigo
● Premium: Noted
Collection, voco, Ruby, HUALUXE, Crowne
Plaza, EVEN
●
Essentials: Holiday
Inn Express, Holiday
Inn Hotels & Resorts, Garner, avid
●
Suites: Atwell
Suites, Staybridge
Suites, Holiday
Inn Club Vacations, Candlewood
Suites
●
Exclusive Partners: Iberostar
Beachfront Resorts
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company
and is incorporated and registered in England and Wales.
Approximately 400,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate
offices globally.
Visit us online for more about our hotels
and reservations and IHG
One Rewards. To download the
IHG One Rewards app, visit the Apple
App or Google
Play stores.
For our latest news, visit our Newsroom and
follow us on LinkedIn.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements:
This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements as
defined under United States law (Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934) and otherwise. These forward-looking
statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate
only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements
often use words such as 'anticipate', 'target', 'expect',
'estimate', 'intend', 'plan', 'goal', 'believe' or other words of
similar meaning. These statements are based on assumptions and
assessments made by InterContinental Hotels Group PLC's management
in light of their experience and their perception of historical
trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other
factors they believe to be appropriate. By their nature,
forward-looking statements are inherently predictive, speculative
and involve risk and uncertainty. There are a number of factors
that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such
forward-looking statements. The main factors that could affect the
business and the financial results are described in the 'Risk
Factors' section in the current InterContinental Hotels Group PLC's
Annual report and Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
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(Registrant)
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By:
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/s/ C. Bates
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Name:
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C.
BATES
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Title:
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SENIOR
ASSISTANT COMPANY SECRETARY
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Date:
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07 May
2026
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