Hello to buyback certain senior notes for ~$151.6M

Luke Smith 23rd June 202217th January 2024

Hello Group is set to buy back certain senior notes for approximately $152 million dollars.

Hello Group said it undertook separate, privately negotiated transactions with certain holders of its existing 1.25% convertible senior notes due 2025 to buy back $161.8M amount of the notes for a total repurchase price of ~$151.6M plus accrued and unpaid interest.

After the buyback, $544M principal amount of the 2025 notes will remain outstanding, the Beijing-based company said in a press release.

Hello Group recently announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2022.

First Quarter of 2022 Highlights

Net revenues decreased by 9.3% year over year to RMB3,148.1 million (US$496.6 million*) in the first quarter of 2022.
Net income attributable to Hello Group Inc. decreased to RMB289.9 million (US$45.7 million) in the first quarter of 2022, from RMB461.7 million in the same period of 2021.
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Hello Group Inc. (note 1) decreased to RMB398.5 million (US$62.9 million) in the first quarter of 2022, from RMB633.7 million in the same period of 2021.
Diluted net income per American Depositary Share (“ADS”) was RMB1.42 (US$0.22) in the first quarter of 2022, compared to RMB2.14 in the same period of 2021.
Non-GAAP diluted net income per ADS (note 1) was RMB1.94 (US$0.31) in the first quarter of 2022, compared to RMB2.91 in the same period of 2021.
Monthly Active Users (“MAU”) on Momo application were 110.9 million in March 2022, compared to 115.3 million in March 2021. MAU on Tantan application were 25.6 million in March 2022.
Total paying users of live video service and value-added service, without double counting the overlap and including 2.4 million paying users of Tantan Limited (“Tantan”), were 11.0 million for the first quarter of 2022, compared to 12.6 million for the first quarter of 2021, which included 3.5 million paying users of Tantan.

Li Wang, CEO of Hello Group, said: “Q1 2022 was a challenging yet fruitful quarter for us. I am pleased that our team was able to focus on our product and operational initiatives to cope with the headwinds from the resurgence of COVID-19 and related challenges, getting 2022 off to a good start.”