FILE PHOTO: A Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) bucket of mixed fried and grilled chicken is seen in this picture illustration taken April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
November 2, 2017
(Reuters) – Yum Brands Inc <YUM.N> reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for the third quarter, as its Pizza Hut chain posted a surprise rise in same-restaurant sales following five quarters of declines.
Sales at Pizza Hut restaurants open at least a year rose 1 percent, compared with the 0.5 percent decline expected by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.
This helped global same-restaurant sales increase 3 percent, better than the 1.7 percent growth expected by analysts.
Pizza Hut’s same-restaurant sales rose 4 percent in developed markets, which include Continental Europe, Japan and the United Kingdom. Sales in the United States and emerging markets remained flat.
Yum Brands also owns the KFC and the Taco Bell restaurant chains.
Yum Brands’ net income from continuing operations rose to $418 million, or $1.18 per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from $218 million, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 68 cents per share.
Revenue was $1.44 billion, compared to $3.31 billion a year earlier, as the company spun off its China business in November last year.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $1.39 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)
