H World Group Limited Reports Third Quarter of 2025 Unaudited Financial Results

SINGAPORE and SHANGHAI, Nov. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H World Group Limited (NASDAQ: HTHT and HKEX: 1179) (“H World”, the “Company”, “we” or “our”), a key player in the global hotel industry, today announced our unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025.

As of September 30, 2025, H World’s worldwide hotel network in operation totaled 12,702 hotels and 1,246,240 rooms, including 122 hotels and 25,943 rooms from DH. During the third quarter of 2025, our Legacy-Huazhu business opened 749 hotels, including 3 leased and owned hotels, and 746 M&F hotels, and closed a total of 185 hotels, including 19 leased and owned hotels and 166 M&F hotels. As of September 30, 2025, H World had a total of 2,748 unopened hotels in the pipeline, including 2,727 hotels from the Legacy-Huazhu business and 21 hotels from the Legacy-DH business.

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1 Hotel turnover refers to total transaction value of room and non-room revenue from H World hotels (i.e., leased and operated, manachised and franchised hotels).

2 The conversion of Renminbi (“RMB”) into United States dollars (“US$”) is based on the exchange rate of US$1.00=RMB7.1190 on September 30, 2025, 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.

3 Legacy-Huazhu refers to H World Group Limited and its subsidiaries, excluding DH.

Legacy-Huazhu – Third Quarter of 2025 Operational Highlights

As of September 30, 2025, Legacy-Huazhu had 12,580 hotels in operation, including 531 leased and owned hotels, and 12,049 M&F hotels. In addition, as of the same date, Legacy-Huazhu had 1,220,297 hotel rooms in operation, including 79,612 rooms under the lease and ownership model, and 1,140,685 rooms under the manachise and franchise models. Legacy-Huazhu also had 2,727 unopened hotels in its pipeline, including 8 leased and owned hotels, and 2,719 M&F hotels. The following discusses Legacy-Huazhu’s average daily room rate (“ADR”), occupancy rate and revenue per available room (“RevPAR”), for leased and owned Huazhu hotels, as well as M&F Huazhu hotels for the periods indicated.

Legacy-DH – Third Quarter of 2025 Operational Highlights

As of September 30, 2025, Legacy-DH had 122 hotels in operation, including 65 leased hotels, and 57 M&F hotels. In addition, as of the same date, Legacy-DH had 25,943 hotel rooms in operation, including 13,797 rooms under the lease model, and 12,146 rooms under the M&F models. Legacy-DH also had 21 unopened hotels in the pipeline, including 9 leased hotels and 12 M&F hotels. The following discusses Legacy-DH’s ADR, occupancy rate and RevPAR for leased as well as M&F DH hotels (excluding hotels temporarily closed) for the periods indicated.

Jin Hui, CEO of H World commented: “In the third quarter, our robust network expansion under our asset-light strategy, combined with a largely stable year-over-year RevPAR, drove our revenue above the high end of our guidance and supported a strong operating profit growth. The addition of 749 new hotels in the third quarter has brought our total new hotels openings to over 2,000 year-to-date, maintaining a clear path to achieve our target of 2,300 gross new openings for the full year of 2025. Moving forward, we will continue to focus building on our core competencies, pursuing high-quality network growth and market share gain, and strengthening our brand positioning and service excellence. Our confidence in China's hospitality future remains unwavering.”

“Regarding our business outside China, our Legacy-DH business recorded a 6.4% year-over-year blended RevPAR increase in the third quarter of 2025, driven primarily by a 4.6 percentage-point increase in occupancy rate. We will continue to enhance our hotel operations, focus on cost reduction and efficiency improvement, and continue developing our asset-light portfolio.”

Third Quarter of 2025 Unaudited Financial Results

Revenue in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB7.0 billion (US$978 million), representing an 8.1% year-over-year increase. Revenue from the Legacy-Huazhu segment in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB5.7 billion, representing a 10.8% year-over-year increase. The year-over-year increase was mainly driven by continued M&F hotel network expansion. Revenue from the Legacy-DH segment in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB1.2 billion, representing a 3.0% year-over-year decrease.

Revenue from leased and owned hotels in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB3.5 billion (US$490 million), representing a 5.5% year-over-year decrease, as we continue reducing exposure to leased and owned hotels. Revenue from leased and owned hotels from the Legacy-Huazhu segment in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB2.3 billion, representing a 6.5% year-over-year decrease. Revenue from leased hotels from the Legacy-DH segment in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB1.2 billion, representing a 3.5% year-over-year decrease.

Revenue from manachised and franchised hotels in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB3.3 billion (US$465 million), representing a 27.2% year-over-year increase. Revenue from M&F hotels from the Legacy-Huazhu segment in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB3.3 billion, representing a 27.2% year-over-year increase, driven by our hotel network expansion. Revenue from M&F hotels from the Legacy-DH segment in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB48 million, representing a 29.7% year-over-year increase.

Other revenue represents revenue generated from businesses other than our hotel operations, which mainly includes revenue from the provision of IT products and services, procurement platform and Huazhu Mall™, and other revenue from the Legacy-DH segment, totaling RMB165 million (US$23 million) in the third quarter of 2025, compared to RMB150 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Hotel operating costs in the third quarter of 2025 were RMB4.1 billion (US$570 million), reflecting a 6.9% year-over-year increase, attributable to Legacy-Huazhu’s 7.5% year-over-year increase and Legacy-DH’s 5.3% year-over-year increase. As we continue to pursue an asset-light strategy, our hotel operating costs as a percentage of revenue decreased by 0.6 percentage points year-over-year.

Selling, General and administrative expenses (SG&A) in the third quarter of 2025 were RMB884 million (US$125 million), reflecting a 9.3% year-over-year decrease, attributable to a 2.0% year-over-year increase in Legacy-Huazhu and a 31.2% year-over-year decline in Legacy-DH partially due to one-off DH restructuring costs of RMB81 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Other operating income, net in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB61 million (US$9 million), compared to RMB85 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Income from operations in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB2.0 billion (US$288 million), reflecting an 18.9% year-over-year increase, driven by a 16.5% year-over-year increase in Legacy-Huazhu and an 89.7% year-over-year increase in Legacy-DH.

Operating margin, defined as income from operations as a percentage of revenue, was 29.4% in the third quarter of 2025, which improved from 26.7% in the third quarter of 2024. The margin improvement was mainly due to a higher revenue contribution from our M&F business, which was in line with our asset-light expansion strategy.

Income tax expense in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB648 million (US$91 million), compared to RMB382 million in the third quarter of 2024. The year-over-year increase in income tax expense was due to both the rising income and a higher withholding tax related to dividend distributions.

Net income attributable to H World Group Limited in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB1.5 billion (US$206 million), reflecting a 15.4% year-over-year increase, supported by a 10.0% year-over-year increase in Legacy-Huazhu.

EBITDA (non-GAAP) in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB2.5 billion (US$346 million), compared with RMB2.0 billion in the third quarter of 2024 and RMB2.5 billion in the previous quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP), which excluded the following from EBITDA (non-GAAP): SBC expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments, was RMB2.5 billion (US$354 million) in the third quarter of 2025, compared with RMB2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2024 and RMB2.3 billion in the previous quarter. Adjusted EBITDA is our segment measure. Adjusted EBITDA from the Legacy-Huazhu segment was RMB2.4 billion in the third quarter of 2025, compared with RMB2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2024 and RMB2.1 billion in the previous quarter. Adjusted EBITDA from the Legacy-DH segment was RMB67 million in the third quarter of 2025, compared with RMB24 million in the third quarter of 2024 and RMB180 million in the previous quarter.

Cash flow. Operating cash inflow in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB1.7 billion (US$238 million). Investing cash outflow in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB3.0 billion (US$429 million). Financing cash outflow in the third quarter of 2025 was RMB1.8 billion (US$253 million), including RMB1.8 billion (US$248 million) of dividends paid.

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. As of September 30, 2025, the Company had a total balance of cash and cash equivalents of RMB7.1 billion (US$998 million) and restricted cash of RMB163 million (US$23 million).

Debt financing. As of September 30, 2025, the Company had a total debt and net cash balance of RMB6.7 billion (US$938 million) and RMB580 million (US$83 million), respectively.

Guidance

For the fourth quarter of 2025, H World expects the Company’s revenue growth to be in the range of 2%-6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, or in the range of 3%-7% excluding DH. H World expects the Company’s M&F revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 to be in the range of 17%-21%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.

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

Conference Call

H World’s management will host a conference call at 7 a.m. U.S. Eastern time on Monday, November 17, 2025 (or 8 p.m. Hong Kong time on Monday, November 17, 2025) following the announcement.

To join by phone, all participants must pre-register this conference call using the Participant Registration link of https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI4d94983722af49c7a74657040bebf449. Upon registration, each participant will receive details for the conference call, including dial-in numbers, conference call passcode and a unique access PIN.

A live webcast of the call can be accessed at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/bnhp8pj7 or the Company’s website at https://ir.hworld.com/news-and-events/events-calendar.

A replay of the conference call will be available for twelve months from the date of the conference at the Company’s website, https://ir.hworld.com/news-and-events/events-calendar.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the Company’s unaudited consolidated financial results presented in accordance with U.S. Generally-Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), the Company uses the following non-GAAP measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”): adjusted net income (loss) attributable to H World Group Limited excluding share-based compensation expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments; adjusted basic and diluted earnings (losses) per share/ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments; EBITDA; adjusted EBITDA excluding share-based compensation expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments. 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 “Unaudited Reconciliation 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, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments 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, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments is that share-based compensation expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments have been and may 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 information provides investors with a useful tool for comparability between periods because it excludes depreciation and amortization expense attributable to capital expenditures. The Company also uses adjusted EBITDA to assess operating results of its hotels in operation. The Company believes that the exclusion of share-based compensation expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments helps facilitate year-over-year comparisons of the results of operations as the share-based compensation expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments may not be indicative of Company operating performance.

Therefore, the Company believes adjusted EBITDA more closely reflects the financial performance capability of our 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, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments 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 depreciation and amortization, interest income, interest expense, income tax expense, share-based compensation expenses, gain (loss) from fair value changes of equity securities, foreign exchange gain (loss), net, and gain (loss) on disposal of investments all 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 H World Group Limited

Originated in China, H World Group Limited is a key player in the global hotel industry. As of September 30, 2025, H World operated 12,702 hotels with 1,246,240 rooms in operation in 20 countries. H World’s brands include HanTing Hotel, JI Hotel, Orange Hotel, Crystal Orange Hotel, IntercityHotel, Hi Inn, Ni Hao Hotel, Elan Hotel, Zleep Hotels, Starway Hotel, CitiGO, Manxin Hotel, Madison Hotel, MAXX Hotel, Blossom House, Joya Hotel, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, Jaz in the City, Steigenberger Icons 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 September 30, 2025, H World operated 7 percent of its hotel rooms under the lease and ownership model, and 93 percent under the 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.

—Financial Tables and Operational Data—

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4 The conversion of Renminbi (“RMB”) into United States dollars (“US$”) is based on the exchange rate of US$1.00=RMB7.1190 on September 30, 2025, 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.

Operating Results: Legacy-Huazhu (1)

Operating Results: Legacy-DH ( 2 )

Hotel Portfolio by Brand

(4) As of September 30, 2025, 86 operational hotels and 111 pipeline hotels of IntercityHotel were under Legacy-Huazhu.

(5) As of September 30, 2025, 7 operational hotels and 10 pipeline hotels of MAXX Hotel were under Legacy-Huazhu.

(6) As of September 30, 2025, 13 operational hotels and 9 pipeline hotels of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts were under Legacy-Huazhu.

(7) As of September 30, 2025, 5 operational hotels and 1 pipeline hotel of Steigenberger Icons were under Legacy-Huazhu.

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

Contact Information

Investor Relations

Tel: +86 (21) 6195 9561

Email: ir@hworld.com

https://ir.hworld.com