H World Group reports Q4 revenue $786M, consensus $766.15M

Reports Q4 earnings per ADS 33c, consensus 36c. As of December 31, 2023, H World’s worldwide hotel network in operation totaled 9,394 hotels and 912,444 rooms, including 131 hotels from DH. During the fourth quarter of 2023, our Legacy-Huazhu business opened 460 hotels, including 4 leased and owned hotels, and 456 manachised and franchised hotels, and closed a total of 225 hotels, including 5 leased and owned hotels and 220 manachised and franchised hotels. As of December 31, 2023, H World had a total of 3,098 unopened hotels in the pipeline, including 3,061 hotels from the Legacy-Huazhu business and 37 hotels from the Legacy-DH business. Jin Hui, CEO of H World commented: “We finished the year with robust performance. Our Legacy-Huazhu’s 2023 RevPAR recovered to 122% of the 2019 level, driven by a strong demand for leisure travel and the continued recovery for business travel. While ADR growth was the key driver of the RevPAR recovery in 2023, the recovery of occupancy rate also improved sequentially throughout the year. Our ADR growth primarily reflected a combination of product mix change and product upgrades. Looking ahead, while continuing to execute our ‘Sustainable Growth Strategy’ and carry through high-quality network expansion, we will put more emphasis on enhancing service quality and improving the guest experience to achieve ‘Service Excellence’.” “Regarding our business outside China, our Legacy-DH recorded 14.5% year-over-year RevPAR increase in 2023. Thanks to the continued business recovery and our cost control efforts, Legacy-DH achieved positive EBITDA for the full year of 2023. Looking into 2024, we aim to transform our Legacy-DH business to a more asset-light model, continue the focus on cost reduction and efficiency improvement, strengthen direct sales via H Reward global loyalty program, and seek growth opportunities in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.”