Huazhu Group announced that its revenue increased 25.4% year-over-year to RMB 12.8 billion (USD 2.0 billion) for the full year of 2021.
Net loss attributable to Huazhu Group was RMB 459 million (USD 72 million) for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with net income of RMB 703 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. Net loss attributable to the company was RMB 465 million (USD 73 million) for full-year 2021, compared with RMB 2.2 billion for 2020.
As of December 31, 2021, Huazhu’s worldwide hotel network in operation totaled 7,830 hotels and 753,216 rooms, including 124 hotels from DH.
For Legacy Huazhu hotels:
• The ADR was RMB 239 in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with RMB 231 in the fourth quarter of 2020, and RMB 232 in the fourth quarter of 2019. The ADR was RMB 239 for the full year of 2021, compared with RMB 210 for the previous year, and RMB 234 for the 2019.
• The occupancy rate for all Legacy-Huazhu hotels in operation was 68.2% in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with 80.6% in the fourth quarter of 2020, and 82.2% in the fourth quarter of 2019. The occupancy rate was 72.2% for the full year of 2021, compared with 71.0% for the previous year, and 84.4% for the 2019.
• Blended RevPAR for Legacy-Huazhu was RMB 163 in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with RMB 186 in the fourth quarter of 2020, and RMB 191 in the fourth quarter of 2019. Blended RevPAR was RMB 172 for the full year of 2021, compared with RMB 149 for the previous year, and RMB 198 for the 2019.
For Legacy-DH hotels:
• The ADR was EUR 94 in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with EUR 76 in the fourth quarter of 2020. The ADR was EUR 90 for the full year of 2021, compared with EUR 88 for the previous year.
• The occupancy rate for all Legacy-DH hotels in operation was 46.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with 22.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The occupancy rate was 35.2% for the full year of 2021, compared with 34.8% for the previous year.
• Blended RevPAR was EUR 43 in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with EUR 17 in the fourth quarter of 2020. Blended RevPAR was EUR 32 for the full year of 2021, compared with EUR 31 for the previous year.
Jin Hui, CEO of Huazhu commented: “An upsurge of COVID-19 in more than 20 Chinese provinces has occurred since November 2021 and negatively affected our business recovery in the fourth quarter, with RevPAR recovering to 86% of the same period of 2019. Since the beginning of 2022, travelling restrictions due to the Beijing Olympic Winter Games added more pressures to our business in addition to the pandemic. Unfortunately, the situation has not improved since March 2022 as the highly infectious Omicron variant has been spreading rapidly in China. As China’s “zero-COVID” policy remains in place, these near-term uncertainties and fluctuations are inevitable. For our European business, it was impacted again by tightened governmental control measures and testing requirements due to the third and fourth waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries. As a result, the recovery trend of DH was also disrupted in November 2021. The RevPAR in the fourth quarter recovered to 66% of the same period of 2019, similar to last quarter.”
“2021 was another challenging year due to COVID-19, especially in the second half,” Mr. Jin continued. “Although the near-term business performance could still inevitably see some volatilities, not only from the pandemic but also from various global macro factors, our long-term view on the Chinese lodging industry remains optimistic and unchanged. We are unswervingly implementing our 'Sustainable Quality Growth' strategy which means that while growth is still the main theme, quality and sustainability are two critical prerequisites. We are continuously putting greater emphasis on our customers’ satisfaction and our franchisees’ profitability. Last but not least, Germany was gradually reopening since mid-February 2022, which could help reaccelerate our RevPAR recovery. Additionally, operational efficiency improvement and continuous digital transformation will remain as our near-term focus.”
Guidance
Huazhu expects to open around 1,500 hotels and close 500-550 hotels in 2022.
In the first quarter of 2022, Huazhu expects revenue growth to be in the range of 11%-15% compared to the first quarter of 2021, or to range from 1% to 5% if excluding DH.
For the full year of 2022, the company expects revenue growth to range from 15% to 20% compared to the full year of 2021, or to range from 4% to 9% if excluding DH.
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