Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels saw third-quarter sales slip as it was hit by political unrest in Hong Kong.

The hotel group, also runs the Crowne Plaza brand, saw shares dip in early trading after it said revenue per available room slumped by 0.8% in the three months to September.

InterContinental reported a particular slump in its Greater China market, as revenue per room in Hong Kong dived 36% due to the political unrest.

In mainland China, revenue per room fell by 2% on the back of a reduction in business meetings.

However, the company said it remained "confident" for the rest of the year despite the "weaker" sales environment.

InterContinental said it also benefited from expanding its number of rooms, as it opened 13,000 new rooms across its portfolio during the quarter.

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In the UK, the revenue per room increased by 1% on the back of a 3% increase in London, driven by an rise in international demand amid weakness in the value of the pound.

Continental Europe also delivered 1% growth, although it saw a 7% decline in Germany for the period.

Chief executive Keith Barr said: "Despite the weaker revenue per available room environment, and the challenges some of our markets are currently experiencing, we remain confident in our financial outcome for the rest of the year.

"Our broad geographical spread combined with the resilience of our asset-light, cash generative model, our disciplined approach to cost management and the continued execution against our strategic initiatives positions us well for the future."

Shares in the company fell by 2.4% to 4,621.5p on Friday morning.

Asda took a major step towards becoming a public company on Friday as bosses sold nearly £4 billion of the supermarket's pension liabilities.

The grocer's parent company, Walmart, which failed in its attempts to merge with Sainsbury's earlier this year, will sell the scheme for 12,300 current and former workers to Rothesay Life, a specialist pensions insurer.

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The scheme is separate from the Asda Pension Plan, a defined contribution scheme, which provides ongoing pension arrangements to the majority of Asda staff.

Before the deal, which is expected to be completed within 12 to 18 months, Asda will make a final £800 million contribution into the fund.

Walmart said it will need to book a $2.2 billion (£1.7 billion) charge over the deal, but bosses will hope offloading the huge pension liabilities will make it a more attractive offer for future investors on the stock market.

Roger Burnley, chief executive of Asda, said: "This transaction is an excellent outcome for our scheme members - and for Asda and Walmart."

Food giant Danone saw shares dive after the French group said it expects full-year sales to be lower than previously forecast.

The Evian water and Activia yoghurt manufacturer said like-for-like sales growth narrowed to between 2.5% and 3% in the third quarter.

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The company said the downgrade was caused by weak sales in the US and Russia where yoghurt sales have been challenging.

Danone said it saw 10% growth in child nutrition sales during the period as it benefits from strong growth in the UK for its brands such as Aptamil.

The company also delivered growing sales in the rest of Europe and Latin America, while it was also boosted by plant-based brands such as Alpro.