China Lodging Group Posts Lower Q4 Profit

(RTTNews) - China Lodging Group, Ltd. (HTHT) reported net income for the fourth quarter of RMB46.8 million or RMB0.74 per ADS, compared to RMB58.5 million or RMB0.93 per ADS for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the latest quarter was RMB49.0 million, or RMB0.77 per share.

Total revenues for the fourth quarter rose 15.5% to RMB1.37 billion from RMB1.19 billion a year ago. Net revenues for the fourth quarter increased 15.7% to RMB1.30 billion from RMB1.12 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn RMB1.35 per ADS on revenue of RMB1.32 billion for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The occupancy rate for all hotels in operation, excluding franchised Starway hotels, was 86.5% in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared with 90.0% in the fourth quarter of 2013. The year-over-year decrease was mainly due to soft macro economy, and a higher percentage of newly-opened hotels in lower-tier cities as a result of the company's accelerated growth in manachise business nationwide.

Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, for all hotels in operation, excluding franchised Starway hotels, was RMB153 in the fourth quarter, compared to RMB160 in the prior year quarter.

Looking forward, the company forecasts year-over-year net revenues growth of 12% to 14% for the first quarter and 7.5% to 11.5% for the full year 2015.