Higher occupancy rates have helped hotel operator Accor report a "strong" performance during the first half of 2010, after the group posted a net profit of €12m (£9.8m) for the period.

The figure excludes the €85m (£69.7m) cost of demerging its prepaid services arm earlier this summer and tax expenses, although net debt has been reduced to €64m (£52.5m) compared with the first-half of 2009. Accor confirmed plans to open more than 200 hotels in the current year, 93 of which were unveiled during the first half. The Mercure and Ibis brands accounted for 20 and 25 per cent of the new openings respectively.

It comes after the group announced that it had secured a memorandum of understanding to sell 48 European properties worth €367m (£300.9m) by the end of the year. The hotels - 31 in France, 10 in Belgium and seven in Germany - will be operated by Accor on a 12-year variable lease arrangement as part of the deal with a consortium of two investors - Predica, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Assurances, and Foncière des Murs.