Trip.com Group Ltd (TCOM.O) Assessing Impact from Antitrust Conclusion and Penalty Imposed

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Trip.com Group Ltd (TCOM.O) Assessing Impact from Antitrust Conclusion and Penalty Imposed

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26 Jul 2026 17:12:29 ET │ 13 pages

Trip.com Group Ltd (TCOM.O)

Assessing Impact from Antitrust Conclusion and Penalty Imposed

CITI'S TAKE

Buy We view SAMR's Rmb3.521bn fine announced 25 July as less negative

than some investors feared given the prolonged investigation, despite the Price (24 Jul 26 16:00) US$43.64

fine at 7.5% of TCOM's China revenues in the previous year, higher than Target price US$64.00

4%/3% in BABA and Meituan cases. Although confiscation of TCOM's Expected share price return 46.7%

illegal proceeds of Rmb1.658bn is a surprise, the requirement on TCOM to Expected dividend yield 0.7%

fully rectify its hotel tiering system, especially exclusive cooperation and Expected total return 47.3%

"lowest price" practices, should be well expected by the market. TCOM

Market Cap US$28,523M announced full acceptance of the penalty and unveiled a rectification plan

including immediate cessation of golden and special hotel system and

building a more fair traffic distribution and commission mechanism. While

we await further details likely to be shared by management on the Brian GongAC

conference call at 8pm HKT on 27 July, we think the conclusion could to +852-2501-2747

some extent lift the overhang that has weighed on the shares for a while. brian.gong@citi.com

Maintain Buy.

Alicia Yap, CFA

+852-2501-2773

SAMR’s investigation results on TCOM – The State Administration for Market alicia.yap@citi.com

Regulation (SAMR) on July 25 announced it would impose a fine on TCOM of

Nelson Cheung

Rmb5.179bn (Rmb3.521bn fine based on 7.5% of 2025 domestic revenue of

+852-2501-2728

Rmb46.958bn for TCOM and confiscation of illegal proceeds of Rmb1.658bn) based nelson.cheung@citi.com