Homeinns Hotel Group Reports Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

SHANGHAI, Nov. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Homeinns Hotel Group (NASDAQ: HMIN) ("Homeinns" or "the Company"), a leading economy hotel chain in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015. 

Third Quarter 2015 Highlights

• Total revenues decreased 1.1% year over year to RMB 1,855.9 million (US$292.0 million) for the third quarter of 2015, within the previously provided guidance range of RMB 1,830 million to RMB 1,860 million.
• Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB 145.6 million (US$22.9 million) for the third quarter of 2015, compared with RMB 245.5 million for the third quarter of 2014. Adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders (non-GAAP) decreased 8.4% year over year to RMB 205.5 million (US$32.3 million) for the third quarter of 2015.
• EBITDA (non-GAAP) decreased 20.4% year over year to RMB 429.0 million (US$67.5 million) for the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) decreased 5.5% year over year to RMB 488.9 million (US$76.9 million) for the third quarter of 2015.
• Net operating cash inflow increased 15.4% year over year to RMB 549.7 million (US$86.5 million) for the third quarter of 2015.
• As of September 30, 2015, Homeinns operated 2,787 hotels across 346 cities in China, with a net addition of 37 hotels during the third quarter of 2015.

Mr. David Sun, the Company's chief executive officer, stated, "During the third quarter we experienced an encouraging continued sequential improvement in our business performance with a narrowed like-for-like RevPAR decline, despite sustained macroeconomic challenges.  Our revenue growth and RevPAR remained under pressure given the generally soft external conditions.  However, we are not seeing any signs of worsening in the domestic travel industry and expect the situation to remain stable for the rest of the year.  It is important to note that our focus on developing mid-scale offerings is bearing fruit as Homeinn Plus and Yitel continue to receive very positive market feedback and both are delivering strong results.  Further, we are making solid progress with membership expansion and enhancement of our digital capabilities, with both our member count and mobile user levels reaching record highs."

Mr. Sun continued, "Looking to the balance of the year, while we do expect the external market conditions to stay difficult, we remain a strong believer in China's travel industry and leisure market, which have demonstrated great resilience despite the economic slowdown in China.  With accelerated development of our mid-scale hotels and stringent cost control, we are confident that we will be able to continue weathering a choppy economic environment, further solidifying our leading position in the market, seizing new growth opportunities, and creating value for our shareholders."

Hotel Development

Operating Metrics

For the third quarter of 2015, occupancy rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points while ADR decreased by 1.7%, resulting in a year-over-year decrease of 1.9% in RevPAR. The decrease in RevPAR was mainly due to continued difficult market conditions in the third quarter. Sequentially, RevPAR increased by 9.1% mainly due to seasonality.

As of September 30, 2015, a total of 2,131 hotels had been in operation for at least 18 months. The occupancy rate of these hotels declined year over year from 88.2% to 87.5%, and ADR decreased year over year from RMB 174 to RMB 170, resulting in a decrease in RevPAR by 3.2% from RMB 154 to RMB 149 during the third quarter of 2015.

Homeinns Hotel Group had a total of 47.0 million unique non-corporate members under its frequent guests program as of September 30, 2015.

Financial Results for Third Quarter 2015

Revenues from leased-and-operated hotels decreased 2.4% year over year to RMB 1.57 billion (US$247.6 million) for the third quarter of 2015. The year-over-year decrease in revenues from leased-and-operated hotels was mainly due to a decrease in RevPAR.

Revenues from franchised-and-managed hotels increased 6.8% year over year to RMB 282.3 million (US$44.4 million) for the third quarter of 2015. The year-over-year increase in revenues from franchised-and-managed hotels was mainly driven by an increase in the number of hotels and hotel rooms in operation, although partially offset by a decrease in RevPAR.

Total operating costs and expenses were RMB 1.53 billion (US$240.6 million) for the third quarter of 2015, representing 82.4% of total revenues for the quarter. Total operating costs and expenses excluding any share-based compensation expenses, integration costs and expenses related to going-private activities (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2015 were 81.1% of total revenues, compared to 77.8% in the same period a year ago.

• Total leased-and-operated hotel costs were RMB 1.34 billion (US$210.5 million) for the third quarter of 2015, representing 85.0% of the leased-and-operated hotel revenues for the quarter, compared to 80.4% in the same period a year ago. Total leased-and-operated hotel costs excluding any share-based compensation expenses and integration costs (non-GAAP) were 84.9% of the leased-and-operated hotel revenues in the third quarter of 2015, compared to 80.2% in the same period a year ago.

Pre-opening cost was RMB 14.1 million (US$2.2 million) for the third quarter of 2015, compared to RMB 13.3 million in the third quarter of 2014.

The year-over-year increase in total leased-and-operated hotel costs as a percentage of leased-and-operated hotel revenues for the third quarter of 2015 was mainly due to a decrease in RevPAR which resulted in a lower revenue base per hotel while a significant portion of the hotel costs was fixed.

• Personnel costs of franchised-and-managed hotels were RMB 82.6 million (US$13.0 million) for the third quarter of 2015, representing 29.3% of the franchised-and-managed hotel revenues for the third quarter of 2015, compared to 26.9% in the same period a year ago. Franchised-and-managed hotels personnel costs excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) were 28.3% of franchised-and-managed hotel revenues in the third quarter of 2015, compared to 25.9% in the same period of 2014. The year-over-year increase in personnel costs of franchised-and-managed hotels as a percentage of franchised-and-managed hotel revenues for the third quarter of 2015 was mainly due to a decrease in RevPAR, which resulted in a lower revenue base per hotel.
• Sales and marketing expenses were RMB 25.6 million (US$4.0 million) for the third quarter of 2015, representing 1.4% of total revenues for the quarter, compared to 1.7% in the same period a year ago. Sales and marketing expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) were 1.4% of total revenues for the third quarter of 2015, compared to 1.7% in the same period of 2014. The year-over-year decrease in sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of total revenues for the third quarter of 2015 was mainly due to the timing of certain marketing activities and improved marketing efficiency.
• General and administrative expenses were RMB 82.7 million (US$13.0 million) for the third quarter of 2015, representing 4.5% of total revenues, compared to 4.3% in the same period a year ago. General and administrative expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses, integration costs and expenses related to going-private activities (non-GAAP) were 3.4% of total revenues for the third quarter of 2015, compared to 3.6% in the same period of 2014. The year-over-year decrease in general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenue was driven by continued effective cost control.

Income from Operations was RMB 213.8 million (US$33.6 million) for the third quarter of 2015, compared to income from operations of RMB 284.5 million in the same period a year ago. Income from operations excluding share-based compensation expenses, integration costs and expenses related to going-private activities (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2015 was RMB 238.0 million (US$37.5 million), or 12.8% of total revenues, compared to RMB 304.3 million, or 16.2% of total revenues, in the same period of 2014. The year-over-year decrease in income from operations margin for the quarter was mainly due to lower revenue base per hotel.

Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Ordinary Shareholders (Non–GAAP) decreased year over year by 8.4% to RMB 205.5 million (US$32.3 million) for the third quarter of 2015, representing 11.1% of total revenues compared to 12.0% in the same period a year ago. The year-over-year decrease in adjusted net margin (non-GAAP)[1]was mainly due to a decrease in adjusted income from operations margin (non-GAAP)[2], while partially offset by higher interest income and lower interest expense.

Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share / Earnings Per ADS

Cash Flow

Net operating cash inflow for the third quarter of 2015 was RMB 549.7 million (US$86.5 million), compared to RMB 476.4 million in the same period of 2014, due to better working capital management. Capitalized expenditures for the third quarter of 2015 were RMB 125.5 million (US$19.8 million), while related cash paid for capital expenditures during the quarter was RMB 129.2 million (US$20.3 million).

Balance Sheet

As of September 30, 2015, Homeinns Hotel Group had cash and cash equivalents of RMB 1,312.3 million (US$206.5 million). The outstanding balance of convertible notes issued in December 2010 (measured at fair value) was RMB 997.2 million (US$156.9 million).

Outlook for Fourth Quarter 2015

Homeinns Hotel Group remains committed to its target of opening no fewer than 400 new hotels in the course of 2015, with approximately 25% as mid-scale hotels.

The company expects the total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2015 to be in the range of RMB 1,635 million and RMB 1,655 million.

This forecast reflects the Company's current and preliminary views, and remains subject to change.

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB 6.3556 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate for September 30, 2015 set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board.

Conference Call Information

Management will hold an earnings conference call at 8 PM U.S. Eastern Time on Monday, November 9, 2015 (9 AM Beijing/Hong Kong Time on Tuesday, November 10, 2015).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until the end of November 16, 2015 U.S. Eastern Time.

Live and archived webcasts of this conference call will be available at http://english.homeinns.com.

About Homeinns Hotel Group

Homeinns Hotel Group is a leading economy hotel chain in China based on number of hotels and hotel rooms as well as geographic coverage of the hotel chain. Since the Company commenced operations in 2002, it has built Homeinn as one of the best-known economy hotel brands in China. In October of 2011, the Company acquired Motel 168, another well-known hotel chain in China, as its second economy hotel brand. Homeinns Hotel Group aims to offer a consistent product and high-quality services to primarily serve the fast growing population of value-conscious individual business and leisure travelers who demand clean, comfortable and convenient lodging. Homeinns Hotel Group's ADSs, each of which represents two ordinary shares, are currently trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HMIN." For more information about Homeinns Hotel Group, please visit http://english.homeinns.com.

Safe Harbor

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Any statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include our anticipated growth strategies; our future results of operations and financial condition; the economic conditions of China; the regulatory environment in China; our ability to attract customers and leverage our brands; trends and competition in the lodging industry; the expected growth of the lodging market in China; and other factors and risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release also contains statements or projections that are based upon information available to the public, as well as other information from sources which management believes to be reliable, but it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate, nor does it purport to be complete. We undertake no obligation to update or revise to the public any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement Homeinns Hotel Group's unaudited consolidated financial results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, Homeinns Hotel Group uses the following non-GAAP measures:

(a)    total operating costs and expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses and acquisition and integration costs and expenses related to going-private activities

(b)    total leased-and-operated hotel costs excluding share-based compensation expenses and integration costs

(c)    personnel costs of franchised-and-managed hotels excluding share-based compensation expenses

(d)    sales and marketing expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses

(e)    general and administrative expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses and acquisition and integration costs and expenses related to going-private activities

(f)     income from operations excluding share-based compensation expenses and acquisition and integration costs and expenses related to going-private activities

(g)    adjusted net income attributable to shareholders excluding any share-based compensation expenses, foreign exchange gain or loss, acquisition and integration cost, upfront fee amortization of term loan, gain or loss from fair value change of convertible notes and interest swap derivatives and other non-operating expenses and expenses related to going-private activities

(h)    adjusted basic and diluted earnings per ADS and per share excluding foreign exchange gain or loss, share-based compensation expenses, gain on buy-back of convertible bonds, issuance costs for convertible notes, gain or loss from fair value change of convertible notes, acquisition and integration cost, non-operating expenses and upfront fee amortization of term loan, and expenses related to going-private activities

(i)      adjusted EBITDA excluding foreign exchange gain or loss, share-based compensation expenses, gain on buy-back of convertible bonds, issuance costs for convertible notes, gain or loss from fair value change of convertible notes, acquisition and integration costs, non-operating expenses and upfront fee amortization of term loan and expenses related to going-private activities

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 press release.

Homeinns Hotel Group believes that, used in conjunction with GAAP financial measures, these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company's performance, and both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the Company's performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. Management believes that EBITDA, defined as earnings before interest, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, is a useful financial metric to assess Homeinns Hotel Group's operating and financial performance before the impact of investing and financing transactions and income taxes. In addition, management believes that EBITDA is widely used by other companies in the lodging industry and may be used as an analysis tool by both management and investors to measure and compare Homeinns Hotel Group's operational and financial performance with industry peers.

One of the limitations of using non-GAAP income from operations, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP net income attributable to shareholders is that they do not include all items that impact Homeinns Hotel Group's net income (loss) for the period. These non-GAAP measures exclude share-based compensation expenses, foreign exchange gain or loss and gain or loss from fair value change of convertible notes, which have been and will continue to be a significant recurring expense in Homeinns Hotel Group's business. In addition, Homeinns Hotel Group's EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to EBITDA or similarly titled measures utilized by other companies since such other companies may not calculate EBITDA in the same manner as Homeinns Hotel Group does. Management compensates for this and other limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. Homeinns Hotel Group computes the non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter. Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results are included at the end of this press release. The non-GAAP adjustment items do not include the tax impact.

The presentation of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an indication that Homeinns Hotel Group's future results will be unaffected by other charges and gains Homeinns Hotel Group considers to be outside the ordinary course of its business.

Homeinns Hotel Group completed its acquisition of 100% equity interest in Motel 168, or Motel, and took control of Motel effective on October 1, 2011. Homeinns Hotel Group had consolidated Motel's operating and financial results since October 1, 2011. By the third quarter of 2013, Homeinns Hotel Group had substantially completed Motel's integration and ceased to present separate operating metrics and revenues for Motel.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Mingjia Ding
Homeinns Hotel Group
Tel: +86-21-3337-3333*3870
Email: [email protected]

Cara O'Brien
FTI Consulting
Tel: +852-3768-4537
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Homeinns

Related Links

http://english.homeinns.com