H World Posts Positive Adj. EBITDA, Higher Revenues In Q1; Sees Growth In Q2, Backs FY23 View

(RTTNews) - H World Group Limited (HTHT), a Chinese hospitality investment holding firm, reported Tuesday positive adjusted EBITDA in its first quarter, compared to loss last year, driven by higher revenues.

Looking ahead for the second quarter, H World expects revenue to grow 51 percent to 55 percent from last year.

The full year expectation remains unchanged with expectation of 1,400 gross hotel openings and 42 percent to 46 percent year-over-year revenue growth.

For the first quarter, adjusted EBITDA turned positive to RMB1.7 billion, compared to a loss of RMB333 million a year ago.

The first-quarter revenue reached RMB4.5 billion, an increase of 67.1 percent from RMB2.68 billion in the same quarter last year. Sequetially, revenues grew 21 percent. H World said its revenue exceeded company's previous guidance and surpassed its pre-COVID level.

The company reported hotel turnover of RMB16.2 billion, representing 71.3 percent increase from last year.

For the Legacy-Huazhu business, average daily room rate or ADR grew 23.9 percent from last year to RMB277, and occupancy rate improved by 16.4ppts to 75.6 percent.

Legacy-Huazhu's blended RevPAR grew to RMB210 in the first quarter from RMB132 last year, and recovered to 118 percent of 1Q 2019 level.

In the first quarter, Legacy-Huazhu signed up 672 new hotels, up 26 percent from last year, but closed 209 hotels in the same period.

Jin Hui, CEO of H World said, "The company's solid result in the first quarter was largely driven by pend-up demand, a combination of product mix change and continued product upgrades, as well as market penetration and synergy through regional offices."

In Hong Kong, H World shares were trading at HK$29.15, down 1.35 percent.