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 January 2024

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 x   Form 40-F ¨

 

 

  

 

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Number

 

Description of Document

Exhibit 99.1   H World Group Limited Announces Preliminary Results for Hotel Operations in the Fourth Quarter and the Full Year 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: January 22, 2024 By: /s/ Qi Ji
  Name: Qi Ji
  Title: Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors

 

3

 

 

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 Fourth Quarter and the Full Year of 2023

 

Singapore/Shanghai, China, January 22, 2024 – 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 fourth quarter (“Q4 2023”) and the full year ended December 31, 2023.

 

Business update

 

For our Legacy-Huazhu business, our RevPAR in Q4 2023 recovered to 120% of the 2019 level, supported by the sustained recovery in both leisure and business travel demand. Breaking down into each month, our RevPAR in October, November and December 2023 recovered to 120%, 117% and 123% of the 2019 levels, respectively. For the full year of 2023, our RevPAR reached 122% of the 2019 level. While the RevPAR growth in 2023 was primarily driven by ADR, we also experienced continuous recovery in the occupancy rate. With respect to the network expansion, we opened 460 hotels and closed 225 hotels in Q4 2023. We recorded a net increase of 852 hotels to our network in the full year of 2023.

 

For Steigenberger Hotels GmbH and its subsidiaries (“DH”, or “Legacy-DH”), RevPAR in Q4 2023 recovered to 111% of the 2019 level, and was marginally above the 2022 level mainly due to a higher ADR base experienced during the FIFA World Cup and the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference in Q4 2022.

 

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Operating Results: Legacy-Huazhu(1)

 

   Number of hotels   Number of rooms 
   Opened
in Q4 2023
   Closed (2)
in Q4 2023
   Net added
in Q4 2023
   As of
December 31,
2023
   As of
December 31,
2023
 
Leased and owned hotels   4    (5)   (1)   607    86,691 
Manachised and franchised hotels   456    (220)   236    8,656    798,939 
Total   460    (225)   235    9,263    885,630 

 

(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 Q4 2023, we temporarily closed 18 hotels for brand upgrade and business model change purposes.

 

   As of December 31, 2023 
   Number of hotels   Unopened hotels in pipeline 
Economy hotels   4,968   1,106 
Leased and owned hotels   329   0 
Manachised and franchised hotels   4,639   1,106 
Midscale, upper-midscale hotels and others   4,295   1,955 
Leased and owned hotels   278   9 
Manachised and franchised hotels   4,017   1,946 
Total   9,263   3,061 

 

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Operational hotels excluding hotels under requisition

 

   For the quarter ended     
   December 31,   September 30,   December 31,   yoy 
   2022   2023   2023   change 
Average daily room rate (in RMB)                    
Leased and owned hotels   279    406    356    27.7%
Manachised and franchised hotels   236    314    276    17.1%
Blended   240    324    284    18.3%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)                    
Leased and owned hotels   63.1%   87.8%   83.7%   +20.6 p.p. 
Manachised and franchised hotels   66.6%   85.7%   80.1%   +13.5 p.p. 
Blended   66.2%   85.9%   80.5%   +14.3 p.p. 
RevPAR (in RMB)                    
Leased and owned hotels   176    356    298    69.4%
Manachised and franchised hotels   157    269    221    40.9%
Blended   159    278    229    43.8%

 

   For the quarter ended     
   December 31,   December 31,   yoy 
   2019   2023   change 
Average daily room rate (in RMB)               
Leased and owned hotels   277    356    28.4%
Manachised and franchised hotels   223    276    24.1%
Blended   232    284    22.5%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)               
Leased and owned hotels   84.7%   83.7%   -1.1 p.p. 
Manachised and franchised hotels   81.6%   80.1%   -1.5 p.p. 
Blended   82.2%   80.5%   -1.7 p.p. 
RevPAR (in RMB)               
Leased and owned hotels   235    298    26.8%
Manachised and franchised hotels   182    221    21.8%
Blended   191    229    20.0%

 

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Operational hotels excluding hotels under requisition

 

   For full year ended     
   December 31,   December 31,   yoy 
   2022   2023   change 
Average daily room rate (in RMB)               
Leased and owned hotels   272    372    36.9%
Manachised and franchised hotels   231    290    25.3%
Blended   236    299    26.6%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)               
Leased and owned hotels   63.9%   82.8%   +18.9 p.p. 
Manachised and franchised hotels   67.1%   80.8%   +13.8 p.p. 
Blended   66.7%   81.1%   +14.4 p.p. 
RevPAR (in RMB)               
Leased and owned hotels   174    308    77.4%
Manachised and franchised hotels   155    234    51.0%
Blended   157    242    53.9%

 

   For full year ended     
   December 31,   December 31,   yoy 
   2019   2023   change 
Average daily room rate (in RMB)               
Leased and owned hotels   276    372    34.5%
Manachised and franchised hotels   224    290    29.1%
Blended   234    299    27.4%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)               
Leased and owned hotels   87.0%   82.8%   -4.1 p.p. 
Manachised and franchised hotels   83.8%   80.8%   -2.9 p.p. 
Blended   84.4%   81.1%   -3.3 p.p. 
RevPAR (in RMB)               
Leased and owned hotels   240    308    28.1%
Manachised and franchised hotels   188    234    24.6%
Blended   198    242    22.4%

 

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Same-hotel operational data by class

Mature hotels in operation for more than 18 months (excluding hotels under requisition)

 

   Number of hotels   Same-hotel RevPAR       Same-hotel ADR       Same-hotel Occupancy     
       For the quarter       For the quarter       For the quarter     
   As of   ended   yoy   ended   yoy   ended   yoy 
    December 31,   December 31,    change   December 31,    change   December 31,    change 
   2022   2023   2022   2023       2022   2023       2022   2023   (p.p.) 
Economy hotels   3,641    3,641    129    173    34.5%   184    212    14.9%   69.8%   81.7%   +11.9 
Leased and owned hotels   318    318    134    209    56.6%   200    248    24.1%   66.8%   84.3%   +17.5 
Manachised and franchised hotels   3,323    3,323    128    168    31.3%   182    206    13.3%   70.2%   81.3%   +11.1 
Midscale, upper-midscale hotels and others   2,898    2,898    197    283    44.2%   302    351    16.0%   65.0%   80.8%   +15.8 
Leased and owned hotels   250    250    223    370    66.0%   364    445    22.2%   61.3%   83.2%   +22.0 
Manachised and franchised hotels   2,648    2,648    193    271    40.5%   294    337    14.4%   65.5%   80.5%   +14.9 
Total   6,539    6,539    164    230    40.8%   243    283    16.7%   67.3%   81.2%   +13.9 

 

Same-hotel operational data by class

Mature hotels in operation for more than 18 months (excluding hotels under requisition)

 

   Number of hotels   Same-hotel RevPAR       Same-hotel ADR       Same-hotel Occupancy     
   As of
December 31,
   For the year
ended
December 31,
    yoy
change
   For the year
ended
December 31,
   yoy
change
 
   For the year
ended
December 31,
    yoy
change
 
   2022   2023   2022   2023       2022   2023       2022   2023   (p.p.) 
Economy hotels   3,641    3,641    129    186    44.4%   180    225    25.1%   71.5%   82.5%   +11.0 
Leased and owned hotels   318    318    135    225    65.9%   196    266    36.0%   69.2%   84.3%   +15.2 
Manachised and franchised hotels   3,323    3,323    128    180    41.0%   178    219    23.2%   71.8%   82.2%   +10.4 
Midscale, upper-midscale hotels and others   2,898    2,898    198    301    51.9%   304    369    21.7%   65.2%   81.4%   +16.2 
Leased and owned hotels   250    250    219    381    74.0%   365    465    27.5%   60.1%   82.0%   +21.9 
Manachised and franchised hotels   2,648    2,648    195    288    48.0%   295    354    20.1%   66.0%   81.3%   +15.3 
Total   6,539    6,539    163    244    49.4%   239    298    24.6%   68.3%   81.9%   +13.6 

 

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Operating Results: Legacy-DH(3)

 

   Number of hotels  Number of
rooms
  Unopened hotels
in pipeline
 
   Opened
in Q4 2023
  Closed
in Q4 2023
  Net added
in Q4 2023
  As of
December 
31, 2023(4)
  As of
December 
31,2023
  As of
December 
31,2023
 
Leased hotels   2   -   2   84   16,303   21 
Manachised and franchised hotels   -   -   -   47   10,511   16 
Total   2   -   2   131   26,814   37 

 

(3)       Legacy-DH refers to DH.

 

(4)       As of December 31, 2023, a total of 2 hotels were temporarily closed due to repair work.

 

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   For the quarter ended    
   December 31,  September 30,  December 31,  yoy 
   2022  2023  2023  change 
Average daily room rate (in EUR)                 
  Leased hotels   114   113   118   3.1%
  Manachised and franchised hotels   134   116   111   -17.3%
  Blended   122   114   115   -5.9%
Occupancy rate (as a percentage)                 
  Leased hotels   60.0%  71.4%  64.7%  +4.7 p.p. 
  Manachised and franchised hotels   58.3%  65.5%  62.6%  +4.3 p.p. 
  Blended   59.3%  69.0%  63.8%  +4.5 p.p. 
RevPAR (in EUR)                 
  Leased hotels   68   81   76   11.2%
  Manachised and franchised hotels   78   76   69   -11.2%
  Blended   72   79   73   1.3%

 

   For full year ended    
   December 31,  December 31,  yoy 
   2022  2023  change 
Average daily room rate (in EUR)             
  Leased and owned hotels   110   115   4.6%
  Manachised and franchised hotels   113   110   -3.2%
  Blended   111   113   1.4%
Occupancy Rate (as a percentage)             
  Leased and owned hotels   56.0%  64.7%  +8.7 p.p. 
  Manachised and franchised hotels   56.4%  61.6%  +5.1 p.p. 
  Blended   56.2%  63.4%  +7.2 p.p. 
RevPAR (in EUR)             
  Leased and owned hotels   61   74   20.9%
  Manachised and franchised hotels   64   67   5.6%
  Blended   62   71   14.5%

 

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Hotel Portfolio by Brand

 

   As of December 31, 2023 
   Hotels  Rooms  Unopened hotels 
   in operation  in pipeline 
Economy hotels   4,984   407,657   1,121 
  HanTing Hotel   3,598   317,647   731 
  Hi Inn   471   24,431   180 
  Ni Hao Hotel   269   20,009   177 
  Elan Hotel   404   21,012   1 
  Ibis Hotel   226   22,659   17 
  Zleep Hotels   16   1,899   15 
Midscale hotels   3,543   379,614   1,503 
  Ibis Styles Hotel   105   10,607   24 
  Starway Hotel   670   55,786   228 
  JI Hotel   2,116   244,175   936 
  Orange Hotel   652   69,046   315 
Upper midscale hotels   704   98,508   397 
  Crystal Orange Hotel   183   23,664   119 
  CitiGO Hotel   35   5,308   4 
  Manxin Hotel   137   12,678   69 
  Madison Hotel   90   11,704   64 
  Mercure Hotel   164   25,803   58 
  Novotel Hotel   23   5,763   17 
  IntercityHotel(5)   63   12,219   64 
  MAXX(6)   9   1,369   2 
Upscale hotels   137   21,046   69 
  Jaz in the City   3   587   1 
Joya Hotel   7   1,234   - 
  Blossom House   63   2,791   56 
  Grand Mercure Hotel   10   2,039   2 
  Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts(7)   54   14,395   10 
Luxury hotels   16   2,360   2 
  Steigenberger Icon(8)   9   1,847   2 
  Song Hotels   7   513   - 
Others   10   3,259   6 
  Other hotels(9)   10   3,259   6 
Total   9,394   912,444   3,098 

 

(5)As of December 31, 2023, 9 operational hotels and 53 pipeline hotels of IntercityHotel were in China.

 

(6)As of December 31, 2023, 4 operational hotels and 2 pipeline hotels of MAXX were in China.

 

(7)As of December 31, 2023, 11 operational hotels and 3 pipeline hotels of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts were in China.

 

(8)As of December 31, 2023, 3 operational hotels and 1 pipeline hotel 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).

 

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About H World Group Limited

 

Originated in China, H World Group Limited is a key player in the global hotel industry. As of December 31, 2023, H World operated 9,394 hotels with 912,444 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 December 31, 2023, H World operates 11 percent of its hotel rooms under lease and ownership model, and 89 percent under manachise and franchise model.

 

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.

 

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