Huazhu Group Limited Reports Third Quarter of 2018 Financial Results

• A total of 4,055 hotels or 409,516 hotel rooms in operation as of September 30, 2018.
  
• Net revenues increased 15.9% year-over-year from RMB2,387.3 million to RMB2,767.6 million (US$403.0 million) ¹ for the third quarter of 2018, exceeding high-end of Q3 revenue guidance (10.5%-12.5%).
• Income from operations increased 32.9% year-over-year from RMB583.1 million to RMB774.8 million (US$112.8 million) for the third quarter of 2018. The operating margin year-over-year improved from 24.4% to 28.0%.
• Net income attributable to Huazhu Group Limited increased 44.0% year-over-year from RMB463.8 million to RMB667.8 million (US$97.2 million) for the third quarter of 2018.
• EBITDA increased 38.5% year-over-year from RMB841.3 million to RMB1,165.6 million for the third quarter of 2018. Excluding unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities and share based compensation, adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) increased 19.1% year-over-year from RMB845.2 million to RMB1,006.8 million (US$146.6 million) for the third quarter of 2018.
• The Company provides guidance for Q4 2018 net revenues growth of 17%-19% year over year, and anticipates the full year net revenues growth at the high-end of guidance (18%-22%).

SHANGHAI, China, Nov. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huazhu Group Limited (NASDAQ: HTHT) (“Huazhu” or the “Company”), a leading and fast-growing multi-brand hotel group in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2018.

Third Quarter of 2018 Operational Highlights

• During the third quarter of 2018, Huazhu opened 235 hotels, including 30 leased (“leased-and-operated”) hotels and 205 manachised (“franchised-and-managed”) hotels and franchised hotels.
  
  
• The Company closed a total of 83 hotels, including 5 leased hotels and 78 manachised and franchised hotels, during the third quarter of 2018. This was mainly due to:
  
  a) The Company's strategic focus to upgrade the quality of the product and service. The Company closed 16 hotels for brand upgrade purposes and permanently removed 20 hotels from its network for their non-compliance with the brand and operating standards. These hotels were mainly under HanTing, Elan and Hi Inn brands. By removing hotels of lower quality, the Company is able to provide a more consistent customer experience, which will help enhance both the brands and future profitability. 
  
  b) Property related issues, including rezoning, and expiry of leases, which resulted in the closure of 28 hotels.
  
  c)  Operating losses from hotels located mainly in selected 3^rd or lower tier cities which resulted in the closure of 19 hotels.
  
  
• As of September 30, 2018, the Company had 698 leased hotels, 3,139 manachised hotels, and 218 franchised hotels in operation in 391 cities. The number of hotel rooms in operation totaled 409,516, an increase of 9.9% from a year ago.
  
  
• The ADR, which is defined as the average daily rate for all hotels in operation, was RMB239 in the third quarter of 2018, compared with RMB218 in the third quarter of 2017 and RMB226 in the previous quarter. The year-over-year increase of 9.8% was due to both an increase in ADR of the mature hotels, as well as an increase in the proportion of mid- and up-scale hotels with higher ADR in the Company’s brand mix. The sequential increase resulted mainly from seasonality.
  
  
• The occupancy rate for all hotels in operation was 90.7% in the third quarter of 2018, compared with 93.1% in the third quarter of 2017 and 89.6% in the previous quarter. The year-over-year decrease of 2.3 percentage points was mainly due to the impacts of the deferment of school summer holiday in July, and Mid-Autumn Festival in September. The sequential increase was mainly due to seasonality.
  
  
• RevPAR, defined as revenue per available room for all hotels in operation, was RMB217 in the third quarter of 2018, compared with RMB203 in the third quarter of 2017 and RMB203 in the previous quarter. The year-over-year increase of 7.1% was attributable to higher ADR. The sequential increase was mainly due to seasonality.
  
  
• For all hotels which had been in operation for at least 18 months, the same-hotel RevPAR was RMB207 for the third quarter of 2018, representing a 4.2% increase from RMB199 for the third quarter of 2017, with a 6.7% increase in ADR and a 2.3-percentage-point decrease in occupancy rate. The economy hotels registered an 4.1% same-hotel RevPAR improvement, driven by a 7.2% increase in ADR. The midscale and upscale hotels recorded a 4.3% same-hotel RevPAR improvement, driven by a 5.0% increase in ADR. Crystal Orange Hotels were not included in the same-hotel RevPAR statistics as they have not been in Huazhu system for 18 months.
  
  
• As of September 30, 2018, the Company’s loyalty program had approximately 118 million members, who contributed approximately 76% of room nights sold during the third quarter of 2018 and approximately 86% of room nights were sold through the Company’s own direct channels.

¹ The conversion of Renminbi (“RMB”) into United States dollars (“US$”) is based on the exchange rate of US$1.00= RMB6.8680 on September 28, 2018 as set forth in H.10 statistical release of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and available at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/hist/dat00_ch.htm. 

“We are excited to deliver another quarter with strong growth in both hotel openings and revenue growth. In the third quarter, we added a net of 152 hotels, bringing our total number of hotels in operation to 4,055. Our hotels in the pipeline had grown to a historical high of 924 at the end of the third quarter. This shows that our brands and products are well received by our customers and hotel owners. We are well on track for the hotel opening target for this year, and we are confident to further accelerate our new hotel opening in the coming 2019. We are also happy to announce that our flagship midscale hotel brand, the JI brand had exceeded the 500 hotels milestone for hotel in operations, and also recorded a historical high hotel in pipeline of 250 at the end of this quarter. Given JI brand’s characteristic design and superior profitability, we believe the JI brand will continue to accelerate its growth momentum in years to come. Huazhu’s other relatively younger and newly-acquired midscale brands have also started to build their own momentum for fast expansion, supported by our strong direct sales channels and centralized operating platform. We believe a number of these brands will follow JI brand’s growth trajectory to become a much bigger brand in the years to come,” commented Ms. Jenny Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Huazhu.

Third Quarter of 2018 Financial Results
Since the first quarter of 2018, the Company adopted new revenue recognition standards and all prior year numbers are restated using the new standards. Please see the “Adoption of New Revenue Recognition Accounting Standards” section of this release for more information.

Net revenues for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB2,767.6 million (US$403.0 million), representing a 15.9% year-over-year increase and a 9.8% sequential increase. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to our hotel network expansion and improved blended RevPAR. The sequential increase was due to seasonality.

Net revenues from leased and owned hotels for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB2,052.6 million (US$298.9 million), representing a 10.7% year-over-year increase and an 8.0% sequential increase.

Net revenues from manachised and franchised hotels for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB699.2 million (US$101.8 million), representing a 33.2% year-over-year increase and a 13.5% sequential increase. Net revenues from manachised and franchised hotels accounted for 25.3% of the Company’s net revenues in the third quarter of 2018, up from 22.0% a year ago.

Other revenues represent revenues generated from other than hotel businesses, which mainly include revenues from Huazhu mall and the provision of IT products and services to hotels, totaling RMB15.8 million (US$2.3 million) in the third quarter of 2018.

Hotel operating costs for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB1,657.8 million (US$241.4 million), compared to RMB1,503.8 million in the third quarter of 2017, representing a 10.2% year-over-year increase. Total hotel operating costs excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB1,651.2 million (US$240.4 million), representing 59.7% of net revenues, compared to 62.8% for the third quarter in 2017 and 62.2% for the previous quarter. The year-over-year decrease in the percentage was mainly attributable to the improved blended RevPAR and increased proportion of manachised and franchised hotels.

Selling and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB91.3 million (US$13.3 million), compared to RMB74.4 million in the third quarter of 2017 and RMB83.1 million in the previous quarter. Selling and marketing expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB90.9 million (US$13.2 million), or 3.3% of net revenues, compared to 3.1% for the third quarter of 2017 and 3.3% for the previous quarter.

General and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB233.4 million (US$34.0 million), compared to RMB153.7 million in the third quarter of 2017 and RMB189.5 million in the previous quarter. General and administrative expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB220.0 million (US$32.0 million), representing 7.9% of net revenues, compared with 6.0% of net revenues in the third quarter of 2017 and 7.1% in the previous quarter. The year-over-year increase in percentage was mainly due to (a) higher professional fees related to hotel investment; and (b) increase in personnel cost relating to new hotel developments, new business initiatives around our core hotel business, information technology services, and a quarterly accrual of a long-term profit-sharing bonus. In 2017, we accrued the entire amount of the long-term profit sharing bonus in Q4 2017 when we established the plan.

Pre-opening expenses for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB59.9 million (US$8.7 million), representing a 11.4% year-over-year decrease and an 8.7% sequential decrease.

Other operating income, net for the third quarter of 2018 were RMB51.3 million (US$7.5 million) mainly related to compensation received from the landlords on termination of certain lease hotels, compared to RMB0.1 million in the third quarter of 2017 and RMB65.2 million in the previous quarter.

Income from operations for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB774.8 million (US$112.8 million), representing a 32.9% year-over-year increase and a 15.5% sequential increase. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, adjusted income from operations (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB795.2 million (US$115.8 million), compared to adjusted income from operation (non-GAAP) of RMB598.4 million for the third quarter of 2017 and RMB689.7 million for the previous quarter. The operating margin, defined as income from operations as percentage of net revenues, for the third quarter of 2018 was 28.0%, compared with 24.4% in the third quarter of 2017 and 26.6% in the previous quarter. The improved year-over-year operating margin was mainly attributable to the improved blended RevPAR and asset-light strategy.

Other income, net for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB16.3 million (US$2.4 million), compared to RMB39.7 million for the third quarter of 2017 and RMB195.0 million for the previous quarter.

Unrealized gains from fair value changes of equity securities for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB179.2 million (US$26.1 million), compared to unrealized gains from fair value changes of equity securities of RMB11.4 million in the third quarter of 2017 and unrealized losses from fair value changes of equity securities of RMB200.8 million in the previous quarter. Unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities mainly represents the unrealized gains (losses) from our investment in equity securities with readily determinable fair values, such as AccorHotels. The unrealized gains (losses) will have a significant impact on our GAAP net income going forward.

Net income attributable to Huazhu Group Limited for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB667.8 million (US$97.2 million), compared to RMB463.8 million in the third quarter of 2017 and RMB338.4 million in the previous quarter. Excluding share-based compensation expenses and the unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities, adjusted net income attributable to Huazhu Group Limited (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB508.9 million (US$74.1 million), representing a 8.8% year-over-year increase and a 8.8% sequential decrease.

Basic and diluted earnings per share/ADS. For the third quarter of 2018, basic earnings per share were RMB2.37 (US$0.34) and diluted earnings per share were RMB2.23 (US$0.32). For the third quarter of 2018, excluding share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities, adjusted basic earnings per share (non-GAAP) were RMB1.80 (US$0.26) and adjusted diluted earnings per share (non-GAAP) were RMB1.71 (US$0.24).

EBITDA (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB1,165.6 million (US$169.7 million), compared with RMB841.3 million in the third quarter of 2017 and RMB745.6 million in the previous quarter. Excluding share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities, adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB1,006.8 million (US$146.6 million), compared with RMB845.2 million for the third quarter of 2017 and RMB965.0 million for the previous quarter.

Cash flow. Operating cash inflow for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB914.1 million (US$133.1 million). Investing cash outflow for the third quarter of 2018 was RMB1,394.9 million (US$203.1 million), including RMB425.6 million (US$62.0 million) for acquiring Blossom Hill Hotel Investment Management (Kunshan) Co., Ltd.(“Blossom Hill”)².

Cash and cash equivalents and Restricted cash. As of September 30, 2018, the Company had a total balance of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash of RMB4,547.4 million (US$662.1 million).

Debt financing. As of September 30, 2018, the Company had a total debt balance of RMB9,239.8 million (US$1,345.3 million) and the unutilized credit facility available to the Company was RMB1,265.6 million.

Adoption of New Revenue Recognition Accounting Standards
The Company adopted Accounting Standards Update 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) on January 1, 2018 on a full retrospective basis in the condensed consolidated financial statements. As such, prior period results have been adjusted to reflect the adoption of ASU 2014-09.

The most meaningful impacts of the adoption of ASU 2014-09 are as follows:

Under previous guidance, initial one-time franchise fee was recognized when the hotels opened for business and the Company had fulfilled its commitments and obligations. Upon adoption of new revenue standards, the one-time franchise fee will be recognized over the term of the franchise contract.

Under previous guidance, the Company adopted the incremental cost model to account for customer loyalty program. The estimated incremental costs, net of the reimbursement received from the franchisees, are accrued and recorded as accruals for customer loyalty program as members accumulate points and are recognized as cost and expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Under new revenue standards, loyalty program is considered a separate performance obligation and the consideration allocated to the loyalty program will be recognized as revenue upon point redemption, net of any cost paid to the franchisees and other third parties.

² As of September 30, 2018, the Company is still in the process of evaluating the purchase price allocation for Blossom Hill. Hence, the financial results for the third quarter of 2018 are based on the preliminary numbers and are subject to change upon finalization.

Guidance
The Company expects net revenues for the fourth quarter to grow 17%-19% year-over-year. For the full year of 2018, the Company anticipates the net revenues growth to be at high-end of previous guidance (18%-22%).

In 2019, the Company expects to accelerate the gross hotel opening to 800-900, about 75%-80% of which will be under midscale and upscale brands. The Company estimates to close 150-200 hotels in 2019.

The above forecast reflects the Company’s current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

Conference Call
Huazhu’s management will host a conference call at 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, November 15, 2018 (or 9 a.m. on Friday, November 16, 2018 in the Shanghai/Hong Kong time zone) following the announcement. To participate in the event by telephone, please dial +1 (845) 675 0438 (for callers in the US), +86 400 120 0654 (for callers in China Mainland), +852 3018 6776 (for callers in Hong Kong) or +65 6713 5440 (for callers outside of the US, China Mainland, and Hong Kong) and enter pass code 7149749.  Please dial in approximately 10 minutes before the scheduled time of the call.

A recording of the conference call will be available after the conclusion of the conference call through November 22, 2018. Please dial +1 (855) 452 5696 (for callers in the US) or +61 2 9003 4211 (for callers outside the US) and entering pass code 7149749.

The conference call will also be webcast live over the Internet and can be accessed by all interested parties at the Company’s Web site, http://ir.huazhu.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement the Company’s unaudited consolidated financial results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company uses the following non-GAAP measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC: hotel operating costs excluding share-based compensation expenses; general and administrative expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses; selling and marketing expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses; adjusted income from operations excluding share-based compensation expenses; adjusted net income attributable to Huazhu Group Limited excluding share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities; adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share/ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities; EBITDA; and adjusted EBITDA excluding share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned “Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results” set forth at the end of this release. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding Company performance by excluding share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities that may not be indicative of Company operating performance. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing Company performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to the Company’s historical performance. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are also useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used regularly by Company management in financial and operational decision-making. A limitation of using non-GAAP financial measures excluding share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities is that share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities have been and will continue to be significant and recurring in the Company’s business. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The accompanying tables have more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures.

The Company believes that EBITDA is a useful financial metric to assess the operating and financial performance before the impact of investing and financing transactions and income taxes, given the significant investments that the Company has made in leasehold improvements, depreciation and amortization expense that comprise a significant portion of the Company’s cost structure. In addition, the Company believes that EBITDA is widely used by other companies in the lodging industry and may be used by investors as a measure of financial performance. The Company believes that EBITDA will provide investors with a useful tool for comparability between periods because it eliminates depreciation and amortization expense attributable to capital expenditures. The Company also uses adjusted EBITDA, which is defined as EBITDA before share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities, to assess operating results of the hotels in operation. The Company believes that the exclusion of share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities helps facilitate year-on-year comparison of the results of operations as the share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities may not be indicative of Company operating performance.

The Company believes that unrealized gains and losses from changes in fair value of equity securities are generally meaningless in understanding our reported results or evaluating our economic performance of our businesses. These gains and losses have caused and will continue to cause significant volatility in periodic earnings.

Therefore, the Company believes adjusted EBITDA more closely reflects the performance capability of hotels. The presentation of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an indication that the Company’s future results will be unaffected by other charges and gains considered to be outside the ordinary course of business.

The use of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA has certain limitations. Depreciation and amortization expense for various long-term assets (including land use rights), income tax, interest expense and interest income have been and will be incurred and are not reflected in the presentation of EBITDA. Share-based compensation expenses and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities have been and will be incurred and are not reflected in the presentation of adjusted EBITDA. Each of these items should also be considered in the overall evaluation of the results. The Company compensates for these limitations by providing the relevant disclosure of the depreciation and amortization, interest income, interest expense, income tax expense, share-based compensation expenses, and unrealized gains (losses) from fair value changes of equity securities and other relevant items both in the reconciliations to the U.S. GAAP financial measures and in the consolidated financial statements, all of which should be considered when evaluating the performance of the Company.

The terms EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are not defined under U.S. GAAP, and neither EBITDA nor adjusted EBITDA is a measure of net income, operating income, operating performance or liquidity presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. When assessing the operating and financial performance, investors should not consider these data in isolation or as a substitute for the Company’s net income, operating income or any other operating performance measure that is calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, the Company’s EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA or similarly titled measures utilized by other companies since such other companies may not calculate EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA in the same manner as the Company does.

Reconciliations of the Company’s non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, to the consolidated statement of operations information are included at the end of this press release.

About Huazhu Group Limited
Huazhu Group Limited is a leading hotel operator and franchisor in China. As of September 30, 2018, the Company had 4,055 hotels or 409,516 rooms in operation. With a primary focus on economy and midscale hotel segments, Huazhu’s brands include Hi Inn, Elan Hotel, HanTing Hotel, HanTing Premium Hotel, JI Hotel, Starway Hotel, Manxin Hotel, Joya Hotel, Crystal Orange Hotel, Orange Hotel Select, Orange Hotel and Blossom Hill. The Company also has the rights as master franchisee for Mercure, Ibis and Ibis Styles, and co-development rights for Grand Mercure and Novotel, in Pan-China region. The Company's business includes leased and owned, manachised and franchised models. Under the lease and ownership model, the Company directly operates hotels typically located on leased or owned properties. Under the manachise model, the Company manages manachised hotels through the on-site hotel managers it appoints and collects fees from franchisees. Under the franchise model, the Company provides training, reservation and support services to the franchised hotels and collects fees from franchisees but does not appoint on-site hotel managers. The Company applies a consistent standard and platform across all of its hotels. As of September 30, 2018, Huazhu Group operates 21 percent of its hotel rooms under lease and ownership model, 79 percent under manachise and franchise models.

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

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The information in this release contains forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the Company’s capital needs, business strategy and expectations. 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. Any or all of the Company’s forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions, risks and uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to be materially different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should consider various factors, including the anticipated growth strategies of the Company, the future results of operations and financial condition of the Company, the economic conditions of China, the regulatory environment in China, the Company’s ability to attract customers and leverage its brands, trends and competition in the lodging industry, the expected growth of the lodging market in China and other factors and risks outlined in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F and other filings. These factors may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. In addition, new factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for the Company to predict all factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Any projections in this release are based on limited information currently available to the Company, which is subject to change. This release also contains statements or projections that are based upon information available to the public, as well as other information from sources which the Company believes to be reliable, but it is not guaranteed by the Company to be accurate, nor does the Company purport it to be complete. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document, except as required by applicable law.

---Financial Tables and Operational Data Follow—

^{______________________________
3} As of May 25, 2018, the company changed its ADS to its ordinary share ratio from one ADS representing four ordinary shares to one ADS representing one ordinary share. Therefore, the company recalculated earnings per ADS of the previous quarter using the new ratio.

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