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Form 20-F [ X ]      Form 40-F [   ]

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b) (1):___ 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b) (7):___  

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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.

		Huazhu Group Limited
		(Registrant)
Date: October 16, 2019		By: /s/ Min (Jenny) Zhang
		Name: Min (Jenny) Zhang
		Title: Chief Executive Officer

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EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit Number		Description
Exhibit 99.1		Huazhu Group Limited Announces Preliminary Results for Hotel Operation in the Third Quarter of 2019

 

EXHIBIT 99.1

Huazhu Group Limited Announces Preliminary Results for Hotel Operations  in the Third Quarter of 2019

• Net revenue for 2019 Q3 is expected to increase by 10%-11% year-over-year, in line with guidance.
• Our unopened hotel pipeline further accelerated to an historical high of 1,736 hotels as of September 30, 2019.

SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huazhu Group Limited (NASDAQ: HTHT) (“Huazhu” or “our”), a leading and fast-growing multi-brand hotel group in China, today announced preliminary results for hotel operations in the third quarter ended September 30, 2019.

Hotel Development

	Number of hotels in operation						Number of rooms in operation
	Opened	Closed (1)		Net added	As of		Net added	As of
	in Q3 2019	in Q3 2019		in Q3 2019	September 30, 2019		in Q3 2019	September 30, 2019
Leased and owned hotels	13	(12	)	1	697		1,027	88,206
Manachised and franchised hotels	535	(50	)	485	4,454		40,091	416,208
Total	548	(62	)	486	5,151		41,118	504,414
(1) Reasons for closures include property-related issues, operating loss and non-compliance issues. In Q3 2019, 4 hotels were temporarily closed for brand upgrades.

	As of September 30, 2019
	Number of hotels in operation	Unopened hotels in pipeline
Economy hotels	3,204	546
Leased and owned hotels	425	1
Manachised and franchised hotels	2,779	545
Midscale and upscale hotels	1,947	1,190
Leased and owned hotels	272	51
Manachised and franchised hotels	1,675	1,139
Total	5,151	1,736

Operating Metrics

	For the quarter ended
	September 30,		June 30,		September 30,		yoy
	2018		2019		2019		change
Average daily room rate  (in RMB)
Leased and owned hotels	279		281		288		3.1	%
Manachised and franchised hotels	228		225		235		3.4	%
Blended	239		236		245		2.6	%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)
Leased and owned hotels	92.0	%	89.4	%	90.0	%	-2.0	pp
Manachised and franchised hotels	90.4	%	86.3	%	87.2	%	-3.2	pp
Blended	90.7	%	86.9	%	87.7	%	-3.1	pp
RevPAR  (in RMB)
Leased and owned hotels	257		252		259		0.8	%
Manachised and franchised hotels	206		194		205		-0.3	%
Blended	217		206		215		-0.8	%

Business Update by Segment

Hotel portfolio by brand
	Number of hotels in operation
	Net added	As of
	in Q3 2019	September 30, 2019
Economy hotels	214	3,204
HanTing Hotel	50	2,381
Hi Inn	35	450
Elan Hotel	129	373
Midscale and upscale hotels	272	1,947
HanTing Premium Hotel	51	180
Ibis Hotel	20	179
Ibis Styles Hotel	6	50
Starway Hotel	52	317
JI Hotel	93	759
Orange Select Hotel	17	233
Crystal Orange Hotel	11	77
Manxin Hotels & Resorts	4	39
Madison Hotel	5	5
Mercure Hotel	11	63
Novotel Hotel	0	9
Grand Madison Hotel	1	1
Joya Hotel	0	6
Vue Hotels & Resorts	1	21
Grand Mercure Hotel	0	8
Total	486	5,151

Same-hotel operational data by segment
		Number of hotels			Same-hotel RevPAR					Same-hotel ADR						Same-hotel Occupancy
		As of September 30,			For the quarter ended			yoy		For the quarter ended			yoy			For the quarter ended					yoy
					September 30,			change		September 30,			change			September 30,					change
		2018	2019		2018		2019			2018		2019				2018			2019		(p.p.)
Economy hotels		2,500	2,500		186		179	-3.7	%	196		194	-0.7		%	95.2		%	92.2	%	-3.0
Leased and owned hotels		414	414		200		197	-1.6	%	211		212	0.6		%	95.0		%	92.9	%	-2.0
Manachised and franchised hotels		2,086	2,086		182		175	-4.3	%	192		190	-1.0		%	95.3		%	92.1	%	-3.2
Midscale and upscale hotels		861	861		289		278	-3.9	%	332		325	-2.2		%	87.1		%	85.6	%	-1.5
Leased and owned hotels		184	184		355		337	-5.3	%	396		382	-3.5		%	89.8		%	88.1	%	-1.7
Manachised and franchised hotels		677	677		265		257	-3.2	%	308		303	-1.5		%	86.1		%	84.7	%	-1.5
Total		3,361	3,361		219		211	-3.8	%	236		234	-1.1		%	92.6		%	90.1	%	-2.5

About Huazhu Group Limited
Huazhu Group Limited is a leading hotel operator and franchisor. As of September 30, 2019, Huazhu operated 5,151 hotels with 504,414 rooms in operation. Huazhu’s brands include Hi Inn, Elan Hotel, HanTing Hotel, HanTing Premium Hotel, JI Hotel, Starway Hotel, Orange Hotel Select, Crystal Orange Hotel, Manxin Hotels & Resorts, Joya Hotel, and Vue Hotels & Resorts. Huazhu also has the rights as master franchisee for Mercure, Ibis and Ibis Styles, and co-development rights for Grand Mercure and Novotel, in the pan-China region.

Huazhu’s business includes leased and owned, manachised and franchised models. Under the lease and ownership model, Huazhu directly operates hotels typically located on leased or owned properties. Under the manachise model, Huazhu manages manachised hotels through the on-site hotel managers Huazhu appoints and collects fees from franchisees. Under the franchise model, Huazhu provides training, reservations and support services to the franchised hotels, and collects fees from franchisees but does not appoint on-site hotel managers. Huazhu applies a consistent standard and platform across all of its hotels. As of September 30, 2019, Huazhu operates 17 percent of its hotel rooms under lease and ownership model, and 83 percent under manachise and franchise models.

For more information, please visit Huazhu’s website: http://ir.huazhu.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The information in this release contains forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. Such factors and risks include our anticipated growth strategies; our future results of operations and financial condition; the economic conditions of China; the regulatory environment in China; our ability to attract and retain customers and leverage our brands; trends and competition in the lodging industry; the expected growth of demand for lodging in China; and other factors and risks detailed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, which may be identified by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “will,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “forecast,” “project” or “continue,” the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. Readers should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events or results.

Huazhu undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.

Contact Information
Huazhu Investor Relations
Tel: 86 (21) 6195 9561
Email: ir@huazhu.com
http://ir.huazhu.com