UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 6-K

 

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the month of July 2023

 

Commission File Number: 001-34656

 

H World Group Limited

(Registrant’s name)

 

No. 1299 Fenghua Road

Jiading District

Shanghai
People’s Republic of China
(86) 21 6195-2011
(Address of principal executive office)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F. Form 20-F ⌧  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): ¨

 

  

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit Number		Description
Exhibit 99.1		H World Group Limited Announces Preliminary Results for Hotel Operations in the Second Quarter of 2023

 

 

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.

 

		H World Group Limited
		(Registrant)
Date: July 25, 2023	By:	/s/ Qi Ji
	Name:	Qi Ji
	Title:	Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

Contact Information

Investor Relations

Tel: +86 (21) 6195 9561

Email: ir@hworld.com

https://ir.hworld.com

 

H World Group Limited Announces Preliminary Results for Hotel Operations

in the Second Quarter of 2023

 

Singapore/Shanghai, China, July 25, 2023 – H World Group Limited (NASDAQ: HTHT and HKEX: 1179) (“H World”, “we” or “our”), a key player in the global hotel industry, today announced preliminary results for hotel operations in the second quarter (“Q2 2023”) ended June 30, 2023.

 

Business update

 

For our Legacy-Huazhu business, our RevPAR in Q2 2023 recovered to 121% of the 2019 level. The recovery continued to be supported by strong travel demand in this quarter and was primarily driven by ADR growth. Breaking down into monthly numbers, our RevPAR in April, May and June 2023 recovered to 127%, 115% and 123% of the 2019 levels, respectively. During this quarter, our hotel closures were mainly attributed to closures that were carried over from last year due to the impact of COVID-19, as well as the continued elimination of those lower-quality and underperforming economy hotels from our network. Our new hotel signing gained further momentum, reaching over 1,000 new hotels during this quarter, which reflected the rising confidence level of franchisees.

 

Steigenberger Hotels GmbH and its subsidiaries (“DH”, or “Legacy-DH”), after experiencing a season-related slowdown in Q1 2023, observed promising business recovery in Q2 2023, with blended RevPAR having recovered to 111% of the 2019 level, mainly driven by ADR growth.

 

 

 

Operating Results: Legacy-Huazhu⁽¹⁾

 

		Number of hotels																Number of rooms
		Opened in Q2 2023				Closed (2) in Q2 2023				Net added in Q2 2023				As of June 30, 2023				As of June 30, 2023
Leased and owned hotels			2				(6	)			(4	)			616				86,846
Manachised and franchised hotels			372				(210	)			162				8,006				731,399
Total			374				(216	)			158				8,622				818,245

 

(1)        Legacy-Huazhu refers to H World and its subsidiaries, excluding DH.

(2)        The reasons for hotel closures mainly included non-compliance with our brand standards, operating losses, and property-related issues. In Q2 2023, we temporarily closed 23 hotels for brand upgrade or business model change purposes.

 

		As of June 30, 2023
		Number of hotels				Unopened hotels in pipeline
Economy hotels			4,856			1,079
Leased and owned hotels			345			1
Manachised and franchised hotels			4,511			1,078
Midscale and upscale hotels			3,766			1,729
Leased and owned hotels			271			14
Manachised and franchised hotels			3,495			1,715
Total			8,622			2,808

 

 

 

		For the quarter ended
		June 30,				March 31,				June 30,				yoy
		2022				2023				2023				change
Average daily room rate (in RMB)
Leased and owned hotels			243				337				384				57.7	%
Manachised and franchised hotels			215				269				295				37.3	%
Blended			218				277				305				39.8	%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)
Leased and owned hotels			62.9	%			76.3	%			83.6	%			+20.7 p.p.
Manachised and franchised hotels			64.9	%			75.5	%			81.6	%			+16.7 p.p.
Blended			64.6	%			75.6	%			81.8	%			+17.2 p.p.
RevPAR (in RMB)
Leased and owned hotels			153				257				321				109.7	%
Manachised and franchised hotels			139				203				241				72.8	%
Blended			141				210				250				77.0	%

 

		For the quarter ended
		June 30,				June 30,				yoy
		2019				2023				change
Average daily room rate (in RMB)
Leased and owned hotels			281				384				36.4	%
Manachised and franchised hotels			225				295				30.9	%
Blended			236				305				28.9	%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)
Leased and owned hotels			89.4	%			83.6	%			-5.8 p.p.
Manachised and franchised hotels			86.3	%			81.6	%			-4.7 p.p.
Blended			86.9	%			81.8	%			-5.1 p.p.
RevPAR (in RMB)
Leased and owned hotels			252				321				27.6	%
Manachised and franchised hotels			194				241				23.8	%
Blended			206				250				21.4	%

 

 

 

Same-hotel operational data by class

 

Mature hotels in operation for more than 18 months

 

		Number of hotels						Same-hotel RevPAR									Same-hotel ADR									Same-hotel Occupancy
		As of June 30,						For the quarter ended June 30,						yoy change			For the quarter ended June 30,						yoy change			For the quarter ended June 30,						yoy change
		2022			2023			2022			2023						2022			2023						2022			2023			(p.p.)
Economy hotels		3,567			3,567			118			192			63.1	%		168			231			37.3	%		70.1	%		83.3	%		+13.2
Leased and owned hotels		325			325			124			237			90.4	%		178			277			55.2	%		69.7	%		85.5	%		+15.8
Manachised and franchised hotels		3,242			3,242			117			186			58.8	%		167			224			34.3	%		70.2	%		83.0	%		+12.8
Midscale and upscale hotels		2,624			2,624			176			309			75.6	%		284			378			33.4	%		62.1	%		81.7	%		+19.6
Leased and owned hotels		253			253			194			395			104.1	%		339			479			41.3	%		57.2	%		82.6	%		+25.5
Manachised and franchised hotels		2,371			2,371			173			295			70.3	%		276			362			31.2	%		62.8	%		81.6	%		+18.8
Total		6,191			6,191			146			251			71.8	%		221			304			37.9	%		66.2	%		82.5	%		+16.3

 

 

 

Operating Results: Legacy-DH⁽³⁾

 

		Number of hotels													Number of rooms			Unopened hotels in pipeline
		Opened in Q2 2023				Closed in Q2 2023			Net added in Q2 2023			As of June 30, 2023(4)			As of June 30, 2023			As of June 30, 2023
Leased hotels			-			-			-			80			15,497			26
Manachised and franchised hotels			-			-			-			48			10,675			11
Total			-			-			-			128			26,172			37

 

(3)

Legacy-DH refers to DH.

(4)

As of June 30, 2023, a total of 3 hotels were temporarily closed. 1 hotel was closed due to flood damage, 1 hotel was closed due to repair work, and 1 hotel was not in operation due to a legal proceeding in progress.

 

 

 

		For the quarter ended
		June 30,				March 31,				June 30,				yoy
		2022				2023				2023				change
Average daily room rate (in EUR)
Leased hotels			113				108				119				6.1	%
Manachised and franchised hotels			107				97				112				5.0	%
Blended			110				104				117				5.6	%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)
Leased hotels			61.2	%			53.0	%			69.4	%			+8.2 p.p.
Manachised and franchised hotels			57.9	%			54.1	%			63.8	%			+5.9 p.p.
Blended			59.8	%			53.5	%			67.1	%			+7.3 p.p.
RevPAR (in EUR)
Leased hotels			69				57				83				20.3	%
Manachised and franchised hotels			62				53				71				15.7	%
Blended			66				55				78				18.5	%

 

 

 

Hotel Portfolio by Brand

 

		As of June 30, 2023
		Hotels				Rooms				Unopened hotels
		in operation								in pipeline
Economy hotels			4,872				392,231				1,092
HanTing Hotel			3,340				297,682				700
Hi Inn			442				23,650				160
Ni Hao Hotel			213				15,583				188
Elan Hotel			642				31,102				1
Ibis Hotel			219				22,318				30
Zleep Hotels			16				1,896				13
Midscale hotels			3,106				337,349				1,354
Ibis Styles Hotel			92				9,390				32
Starway Hotel			598				51,888				225
JI Hotel			1,839				214,630				838
Orange Hotel			577				61,441				259
Upper midscale hotels			618				88,649				331
Crystal Orange Hotel			167				21,748				84
CitiGo Hotel			34				5,326				5
Manxin Hotel			121				11,477				62
Madison Hotel			64				8,202				62
Mercure Hotel			148				24,667				62
Novotel Hotel			20				5,114				15
IntercityHotel(5)			56				10,742				36
MAXX (6)			8				1,373				5
Upscale hotels			129				20,644				60
Jaz in the City			3				587				1
Joya Hotel			7				1,234				-
Blossom House			56				2,605				46
Grand Mercure Hotel			9				1,823				4
Steigenberger Hotels& Resorts(7)			54				14,395				9
Luxury hotels			16				2,360				2
Steigenberger Icon(8)			9				1,847				1
Song Hotels			7				513				1
Others			9				3,184				6
Other hotels(9)			9				3,184				6
Total			8,750				844,417				2,845

 

(5)        As of June 30, 2023, 5 operational hotels and 22 pipeline hotels of IntercityHotel were in China.

(6)        As of June 30, 2023, 3 operational hotels and 5 pipeline hotels of MAXX were in China.

(7)        As of June 30, 2023, 11 operational hotels and 3 pipeline hotels of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts were in China.

(8)        As of June 30, 2023, 3 operational hotels of Steigenberger Icon were in China.

(9)        Other hotels include other partner hotels and other hotel brands in Yongle Huazhu Hotel & Resort Group (excluding Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts and Blossom House).

 

 

 

About H World Group Limited

 

Originated in China, H World Group Limited is a key player in the global hotel industry. As of June 30, 2023, H World operated 8,750 hotels with 844,417 rooms in operation in 18 countries. H World’s brands include Hi Inn, Elan Hotel, HanTing Hotel, JI Hotel, Starway Hotel, Orange Hotel, Crystal Orange Hotel, Manxin Hotel, Madison Hotel, Joya Hotel, Blossom House, Ni Hao Hotel, CitiGO Hotel, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, MAXX, Jaz in the City, IntercityHotel, Zleep Hotels, Steigenberger Icon and Song Hotels. In addition, H World 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.

 

H World’s business includes leased and owned, manachised and franchised models. Under the lease and ownership model, H World directly operates hotels typically located on leased or owned properties. Under the manachise model, H World manages manachised hotels through the on-site hotel managers that H World appoints, and H World collects fees from franchisees. Under the franchise model, H World provides training, reservations and support services to the franchised hotels, and collects fees from franchisees but does not appoint on-site hotel managers. H World applies a consistent standard and platform across all of its hotels. As of June 30, 2023, H World operates 12 percent of its hotel rooms under lease and ownership model, and 88 percent under manachise and franchise models.

 

For more information, please visit H World’s website: https://ir.hworld.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; economic conditions; the regulatory environment; 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; 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.

 

H World 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.