H World Group Reports 10.8% Revenue Growth, Raises Full-Year Guidance
China's hotel giant posted Q2 revenue of RMB7.1 billion while announcing a $2.5 billion shareholder return plan and upgrading its 2026 outlook.
Strong Quarter Drives Revised Outlook
H World Group Limited (NASDAQ: HTHT), operating 13,539 hotels across 1.34 million rooms globally, reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of RMB7.1 billion (US$1.1 billion), representing a 10.8% year-over-year increase (6-K filing, 2026-08-17). The Shanghai-based hotel operator raised its full-year 2026 revenue growth guidance to 4%-8% from a previous range of 2%-6%.
The company also announced a three-year shareholder return plan totaling US$2.5 billion and declared an ordinary cash dividend of approximately US$275 million, or US$0.87 per American Depositary Share (6-K filing, 2026-08-17).
Asset-Light Strategy Gains Momentum
Manachised and franchised (M&F) revenue surged 25.2% year-over-year to RMB3.6 billion (US$529 million) in the second quarter, now representing a growing proportion of H World's business mix (6-K filing, 2026-08-17). The company upgraded its M&F revenue growth guidance to 16%-20% for the full year 2026, up from previous expectations of 12%-16%.
In contrast, revenue from leased and owned hotels declined 4.9% year-over-year to RMB3.2 billion as the company continues its strategic exit from capital-intensive properties. Hotel operating costs as a percentage of revenue decreased by 1.8 percentage points year-over-year, reflecting the benefits of this asset-light transition (6-K filing, 2026-08-17).
China Operations Power Growth
H World's China segment (HWC) delivered robust performance with revenue of RMB5.9 billion in the second quarter, up 14.9% year-over-year (6-K filing, 2026-08-17). The HWC business opened 498 hotels during the quarter while closing 176, bringing the China portfolio to 13,417 hotels as of June 30, 2026.
Blended HWC RevPAR reached RMB238 in the second quarter, compared to RMB235 in the prior-year period, driven by a 2.6% year-over-year increase in average daily room rate to RMB298 (6-K filing, 2026-08-17). However, same-hotel RevPAR for properties operating at least 18 months declined 3.0% year-over-year to RMB233, with occupancy rates falling 2.4 percentage points.
CEO Jin Hui attributed the performance to "ongoing product upgrades and a suite of revenue-management optimization initiatives," noting the company remains "firmly on track to hit our full-year gross opening guidance of 2,200-2,300 hotels" (6-K filing, 2026-08-17).
International Segment Faces Headwinds
The H World International (HWI) segment recorded a 5.8% year-over-year revenue decline to RMB1.3 billion in the second quarter (6-K filing, 2026-08-17). Hotel turnover from HWI decreased 9.4% year-over-year, with blended RevPAR falling 3.8% on a constant currency basis to US$98.
Jin Hui noted the segment's "operational performance was negatively impacted by the Middle East conflict as well as our expansion into the developing South Eastern Asia countries which have lower ADRs and are still in the ramp-up period" (6-K filing, 2026-08-17). Adjusted EBITDA from HWI was RMB131 million in the second quarter, down from RMB164 million in the prior-year period.
Profitability Metrics
Net income attributable to H World Group was RMB1.6 billion (US$232 million) in the second quarter of 2026, compared with RMB1.5 billion in the second quarter of 2025 (6-K filing, 2026-08-17). Adjusted EBITDA reached RMB2.7 billion (US$401 million), up from RMB2.3 billion in the prior-year period.
MarginX data shows the company is expected to report third-quarter 2026 results on November 23, 2026.
This article was generated by MarginX from the 6-K filing on 2026-08-17. It is not investment advice.